The girls are still asleep
The boys, awake
I sit at my desk
and glance out the window
at our green backyard
Bubbles of sunlight
slipping through the leaves of the lush maple trees
floating and settling on the too-long green grass
There’s a babydoll on the clothesline
because yesterday she got dirty in the sandbox
and then my not-yet-2-year-old
took her into the bathroom and washed her in the sink
How can one child be such a do-er
And one of her older siblings be so distraught over doing?
I sit and I look outside
and I ponder questions like this one
Because even when the kids are not underfoot
I am thinking
About this life
With these children
In this house
A family
My family
Together
While I take in the beauty and peace of morning
I pause
And even amidst the clutter that is beside me
Below me
All around me
I know
That there is peace in this life that we share
And soon, when the girls wake up
I will pack a picnic and towels and sunscreen
And we will go to the lake
The lake that we simply call
The Lake
because we go there so frequently
And we will have a morning of digging and swimming
Splashing and snacking
And then we will come back for naptime
And quiet time
And the babydoll on the line will be dry by then
And it will have been another near-perfect summer day
Read More in home, Jen Writes, motherhood, oldest child, three kids, writing
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Love it!!!
Yay for family and summer days!
There is a sense of peace in the in-between-moments. Lovely reflection.
Very sweet.
We’ve been going to The River almost daily and sometimes we don’t even bring buckets and shovels and it doesn’t matter because the kids are so captivated by sun and sand and water that they play for hours and hardly even fight and I sit in the shade, smiling at my children, wondering if another Mama/child tribe will join us and either way it seems this is what a summer childhood should be.
stunning poetry of a life well-lived and full of love.
This is lovely, Jen. Full of appreciation and self-knowledge and savoring.
What a beautiful and poetic summer morning. You have such a way of paint a picture with words.
One word: lovely.
I am trying to pause more in those moments. They end so quickly.
I love that even when given flight and freedom, your mind is constantly work and tasting and treasuring the things that make life so sweet. Your near-perfect summer day sounds both gritty and wonderful.
What I wouldn’t give for a photo of that babydoll on the clothesline! Cute – and yes somehow disturbing. Hilarious!
Ah Jen, that was pure poetry!
The image of the baby doll, lovingly bathed and set out to dry by tiny hands, is remarkable. For both its simplicity and its complexity. I love it.
Beautiful words, beautiful images.