We lead quite an active and adventurous life (around Yorkshire) and even with the loss of Poppy we have spent very little time indoors – some days that is hard for me, but getting out and about to museums, parks, beaches, forests, town…wherever we fancy has helped me personally to not be in a state of despair, helped me as a mother to create memories and learning experiences for my children and helped us as a family have a lot of fun and smiles. Both Ethan and Megan are very active kids and easily bored if we have to stay in and then end up reaping havoc! I usually have a rough idea of what we are doing each week and like to plan ahead to an extent, it makes it easier to be one step ahead with the kids and not get stressed or overwhelmed (though I do at times). It ensures we get out somewhere each day and let them run and be free and climb and explore!
Every night and every morning they both ask, without fail: “where are we going tomorrow? what are we doing today?” ! Life is quite busy and at times fast paced, I love being a stay at home mum but as other mummy’s know it also doesn’t end at 5pm and most weeks I am worn out and drained from carrying grief and carrying on trying to maintain a hearty life!
I am grateful then for the days (usually once a week) when all the activeness catches up with them and til early afternoon they are mellow and want to laze around! On these days we snuggle in bed whilst having chats and laughing, stay in our PJ’s till late morning and play and generally chill out together. On these very ordinary “rest” days we ALWAYS build a train track – We have a mint one that Grandma S bought Ethan for his birthday and every time I try to out do the one I made last time (the kids have learnt not to interfere)… More circles, more bridges and more options of where the trains can go…we all love it and then after a bit I can sneak off and leave them to it and catch up on laundry and a few jobs around the house before we get dressed and get out again in the afternoon. I love the excitement and glee from the train set every time we play with it, I love that Ethan and Megs act like little rebels because at 10am they’re still not dressed. I love to just have the occasional day where we can chill out together, in our home; an ordinary day of doing whatever we please (but that usually involves trains) in our PJ’s, enjoying stretching the imagination, playing and spending cosy times together.
I also love it when the not so ordinary moments crop up on days like these – afternoon naps and movies! At ordinary moments like these time stands still briefly and you realise how great life is!
I completely agree with you that sometimes the laziest, most chilled out days are the best. We are like you in that most of the time we are out and about, even if it is just in the mornings before we come home to nap. Every once in a while though you just feel like relaxing and not rushing about- we need to do it more often. x
My kids go a bit crazy if we stay in too, but the odd lazy day is lovely isn’t it!