The past few days have been very challenging in the parent department. In reality, all the three boys have been troopers - shuffled in and out of the car, living out of our suitcases and generally being homeless. And my family has gone over the top to provide lots of activities like swimming time at Aunt Karen's, homemade ice cream and fresh peaches, little trinkets and toys being brought home as special surprises, field trips, movie nights and cousin time. And although this will always be home to ME in many ways. It is not home to my boys, I realize that. And they have made this increasingly clear. Their home has their beds, their toys (rescue heroes to be exact) and several pieces of dress up clothing that didn't make it into the suitcase. Home has the "cool" markers. Home has sweet Scout and Reggie kitty. And home has our Daddy.
Having moved so many times, I know that their less than desireable attitudes are clear communication to me that they are needing a little more attention, a little more of a connection, a little more cuddling, a little more playing and a little more just being there quietly and available for when they want to talk. So yesterday we unplugged and did lots of nothing...a Sabbath if you will. We played with my first cousin Wade's children Ethan and Eryn (hi guys!), who we tried to explain are also the boys' cousins. My guys are still trying to wrap their brains around this whole extended family thing and proceeded to call cousin Wade, Uncle Wade. And luckily he was perfectly OK with that. I guess Uncle Wade works as we also have Uncles and Aunts that aren't even actually related to us in any formal way.
Connecting with the natural world is always a healer for us. After rest time back at my parent's house, we built a tepee in the shade of the vitex trees in the yard. The boys made up a whole storyline about a cowboy (Ian) sleeping in his tepee when he hears an Indian (Zane) outside and shoots the Indian because he thinks the Indian will scalp him. *thanks granddad for explaining the intricacies of scalping to us*. When the cowboy goes to investigate the injured Indian, he finds that the Indian was only hungry because there are no more buffalo and was hoping the cowboy could spare some beans. The doctor (Wyatt) comes to patch up the Indian and the cowboy shares his beans and coffee and the two are fast friends from then on. The End.
Of course I realize that the story is not historically accurate and the real ending to the cowboys and indian stories weren't as neat and tidy as ours. But I love that they are listening to the bedtime stories we have been reading and are using parts of them to create their own little scenes. In the evening, we took a walk down to the pasture to see the cows. We always find treasures when we take a walk. This time the list included more fossils, a pretty thistle in bloom, a shed snake skin, sticks, rolly-pollies, another lizard, a rabbit sighting, a cicada shell and lots and lots of butterflies.
Yesterday, was a good day. Cousin/Uncle Wade and family, thanks for being such great family and such good sharers of your time and your toys. Oma and Granddad, thanks for being so hospitable and making this time so precious and memorable. Boys, we'll be in Virginia in less than a week with the beach opening its arms to welcome us back. Hang in there guys. Dear S, thanks for hanging in WI to wrap up all the loose ends and for being such a great daddy that we miss you like crazy.
We'll probably be doing a lot more of what was described above this weekend. Hope you are able to do the same. Blessings friends!
