After a good bit of this past year spent at home, it’s funny how there are days now when time at home is all I crave. I knew that I’d miss the season of always being home, but just like when you don’t anticipate that it’ll be the last time your baby sleeps in a crib or the last time you change a toddler diaper, that season ended more quickly than I thought it might. When something good is suddenly over, it’s hard not to miss it.

The grass is always greener though, right? This week we’ve had a few days so far of needing to stay home, and now I’m itching to get out to places like the library, the park, and anywhere that means we’re getting sunshine. We took a walk around the block today and it was beautiful–the temperature was perfect. But one cruise around our neighborhood and back to the house was what we had the capacity for, and as soon as we were home I wanted more. Am I crazy to feel this way? Some days this parenting gig feels like we’re just doing our best to bide the time until the next thing, and then the next. I never want to wish away time or days, but there are just certain spaces where the hours tick by so slowly, and everyone is feeling the weight or boredom or monotony of the day. When the kids are young, it feels a bit like mom is supposed to fix that.

The tricks up my sleeve for indoor activities are limited these days…read alouds, puzzles, art projects, board games, Legos, pretend play with a sibling. If we’re inside at home, I just want to tackle things on my to do list and have a hard time seeing the same kind of fun in what the kids want to do. Fun to this pragmatic mama is having bedrooms picked up, laundry done and the kitchen clean. The kids love that that’s my take on life. Ha! And I’m trying not to default to being a bore this summer, but I’m not sure I’m off to a great start.

The excitement around here today peaked around 9am when a new couch was delivered for the living room. The delivery guys had it in the house, unwrapped, legs on and the couch in its place in no more than 5 minutes. The kids thought this was pretty amazing, and then everyone took turns trying it out and snuggling up to read on it for just about the rest of the day. I’m grateful for a diversion like that on a day when at least 2/3 of our crew is looking for something to do.

I’m truly glad we’re a cozy-at-home kind of family who generally likes being together and in the same space. I’m also glad that these summer days of not having much flexibility to head out on adventures won’t be every day–hopefully only some here and there. I’m keenly aware that there are things we’d all like to do before I’m walking around in that “late third-trimester” kind of way and counting down days instead of whole weeks to baby. Then, I’ll probably be very happy to sit tight on the couch and the kids will be itching to get up and go, just as I was today. If these next few weeks or months find a happy medium, with a rhythm of rest and adventure, I know we’ll all be glad and better for it. I do so love having all of the kiddos home in one place together, even if it means some boredom challenges along the way.

Here’s to summer days that find balance and keep us all moving forward at a pace we can embrace,

MM