This summer, with my husband being out of a job, God has gifted our family with the magic of a dwindling bank account. And what a gift it is.
"How are you keeping your kids busy this summer?" my friends want to know.
Well, truthfully, I'm not. These days, we aren't keeping "busy" much at all.
And I've never been more convinced that by not having a summer of frills and thrills planned for the girls, they're developing in incredible ways. They're sewing pillows, entertaining us with math riddles and brainteasers, building forts, having tea parties with their stuffed animals, writing short stories (more than 20 combined since the beginning of June), experimenting in the kitchen, and more.
They wake up leisurely and unrushed, and go throughout the simple rhythms of our day with ease, purpose, and a sense of pleasantness. We're riding bikes, painting, reading, dancing, singing, putting together puzzles, climbing through tunnels, and enjoying the most recent additions to our playroom - homemade tents and a rain stick. We look forward to seeing our resident frog (who has, for months, been living under one of our flowerbeds somewhere) make his nightly appearance on our front porch. We've had more depth of conversation, more patience for inquisitiveness, and the 7-year-old "accepted Christ" just 4 days ago.
Some days there's a special treat in store - an evening trip to the neighborhood pool, a spontaneous play date with friends, or an early morning matinee.
But otherwise, our days are quite ordinary, and I love it.
This afternoon, we read for hours about identifying various birds, we used the Internet to pull up bird photos and to hear bird songs/calls, and I was pleased when the baby girl dozed off to the sweet song of the nightingale.
It's the first night of the summer that we've hired a babysitter, and we're off to paint the Eiffel tower tonight, and then we'll splurge on dessert somewhere.
Happy to be me.
