Life Lately

            Life lately has been full of all sorts of adventures. Hence the radio silence in this space. The good and the bad- everything from a trip to California to head lice and pink eye- we have seen it all this month. Watching these kids of ours move through the world lately has brought into clarity the importance of our time together as a family- how neither myself nor the Mr. want to waste a second of this golden time of childhood.

          I have spent quite a bit of time ruminating on parenting children of this age- they are stretching their comfort zones and spreading their wings- one day they will surely fly. This is the age when I as a parent am pretty superfluous- I am there in the role of supervisor only. Less and less am I brought into their worlds of imagination and exploration. It is a little bitter sweet.  This is the natural order of life and one I am happy to support- for while they are spreading their wings they still need Momma around- if only to carry the snacks.

          So part of my process in being moved to a supporting role in my children's lives is to hold space for that small amount of grief I feel as a mother. To honour it and then let it go. It's hard to explain until you are really in the thick of the elementary school years- a process that starts in kindergarten and I suppose continues the rest of our lives- the letting go- the growing. Don't get me wrong I'm not sitting about moping- I am so proud of who these little people are becoming!

           Stopping to notice the ever evolving changes in my children has been whats brought actually important to me into sharp relief. Being present- like really present all the while presenting opportunities for exploration and growth has taken prescient over all things this Spring. Tuning in- truly trying to listen and hearing what they say- not just offering up pearls of wisdom or solutions to problems. Just being there as a receptacle for their words- worries- joys.

              Life lately has been full of real life moments- the hilarity found in being so dead tiered but still combing lice out of each other's hair at midnight. The shear childish joy in hugging Mickey Mouse AND Minnie! The mundane pizza dinners when we are just so tiered to cook anything else but still have to feed everyone. Life is messy- life is fun- life lately is just life!

P.S. these pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago at Uplands Park in Victoria- it is the most wonderful place to take a wander no matter the weather!

Chestnuts

                 Last weekend my girly and I headed to fibre nirvana- also known as Knit City. A gathering of local fibre folk from around British Columbia. While my girl is interested in knitting and making things it cannot be denied that she was not interested in being indoors on such a glorious fall day- she knows sunshine is special and potentially fleeting at this time of year. So after we had a good look around we headed out to play under the massive Chestnut trees that tower overhead at the PNE grounds.

             We started by picking up just one perfect shiny chestnut a piece- but one quickly turned into many- which turned into an entire bag of nuts. Once you start it is difficult to stop. After a while I went and sat on a bench to soak in the sunshine and Miss Lo kept collecting and playing- quickly making up some elaborate bowling game- racing chestnuts down a hill- throwing them. Its so funny that even today- in a time of easy technology- children intuitively understand the universal appeal of a perfect chestnut.

        I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately- often I worry that I am selling our children short by raising them in the city- they don't have the freedom- imagined or not- that children in more rural areas enjoy. I try my best to sit back and let them have free play- but regardless I am there and they have yet to learn to truly play freely without adult eyes. I wonder do the advantages of living in the middle of a busy city outweigh the drawbacks?

       So for me to be able to withdraw from play completely and let my city kid run wild through an open space with chestnuts I am reassured that indeed they are perhaps just fine. Perhaps their childhood is not exactly as mine was but then few are these days. To watch my girl know just what to do with those chestnuts made me breath a sigh of relief- I know these kids of mine- they will be all right

Old McDonald Had A Farm

         When I was a kid there was this wondrous place near our house- the Okanagan version of amusement park I guess. It was called Old McDonald's Farm and every time we drove into town my sister and I would start in hope out the window that one day we would stop in. There is only one time I can actually remember going- our Grandma took us- I'm sure our Mom was there as well but I only remember my Grandma- I remember she paid extra so we could fish for carp in the "old fishin' hole"- a nub of bread on the end of a line- I didn't catch anything.

        I remember getting to pet a baby cow for the first time ever- up until this point cows were large, menacing beings that occasionally escaped their fields and invaded our neighbourhood- I was terrified of them- until I met that calf. The fishing, the calf and being with my Grandma are pretty much all I remember from that day- oh and of course my sister. So obviously Old McDonald's Farm really wasn't all we had thought it would be. Yet it persists as a constant childhood memory because it was just always there hugging the side of the highway- just beyond the empty field with scraggly ponies- the last outpost of town.

       When we went home this past Thanksgiving my Mr. noticed they were changing out one of the billboards on the West side of the bridge- something so familiar caught his eye- causing him to pull over to the shoulder of the road at an alarming rate- I thought something else was wrong with the truck. Then he pointed it out- not much left but just enough to instantly be transported back to childhood- the familiar farmer- assumed to be Old McDonald- and his crazy eyed pig!

         It's hard to believe that this even still exists- though who knows for how much longer- preserved beneath layers of adds for Okanagan ATV Tours- which is ironically run by a friend of mine. So for whatever reason we just happened to be at the right spot at the right time and we were reminded- if only for a moment- that somethings don't change- they just get buried beneath new layers.