I’m so pleased to introduce you to Carla from small + friendly: a beautiful blog all about the joys of creative, modern homemaking. Carla is an eco-conscious, crafty, cooking, DIY mama who fills the pages of her blog with funny, honest tales of motherhood and a huge dose of creative inspiration. She’s one of those rare people with the ability to turn a house into a home, not because she feels that she “needs to”, but because she loves to. Thanks so much, Carla, for sharing here today!
Or … How Ritual and Nature Transformed my Family’s Afternoons.
Afternoons have always been a trying time for my son and I. After his nap he tends to be a bit testy, and I often struggle to wrap up what I was feverishly trying to accomplish while he slept. Plus, we’ve been together (just the two of us) all day; by 4pm we are both looking forward to Daddy’s arrival home from work. I had started to dread that period of waiting.
That is until a simple swing, hung from the walnut tree in our front yard, changed everything. That swing was the perfect reminder to come outside, sit in the shade, and wait patiently for dad’s return. Now, each afternoon is spent under the boughs of that beautiful tree.
With a simple snack and some reading material, the sound of my husband’s truck coming down the road often catches us by surprise. Instead of coming home to a harried wife and whiny son (most days), my husband finds us smiling and waving as he pulls into the driveway. Our family spends much of its time outdoors (on walks and working in the backyard), and yet this special quite time (on the grass, under the tree, on a swing) is nothing short of magic.
Here’s to the power of ritual, and the simple pleasures of a swing.
Oh my, we are all thinking about the same thing this monday morning.
Our afternoons are often quite similar but today it was the morning that was especially trying. It was nothing short of a nightmare, actually. I, still nursing a bit of the flu, didn’t feel like doing much of anything. My two boys bickered and their sluggish weary mama jumped into those same waters. Finally, after hours of struggle, I decided to get out of my pajamas and get the kids outside. It seemed a monumental effort – everyone dressed, shoes on, diapers changed, potty breaks – but it ended up being so much easier once we were out. So much calmer. I even got to sit on a park bench and just watch them play. There is something magical about that fresh air…
And my co-blogger, Andrea, thinks so too. She just wrote about this very phenomenon this morning as well: http://www.craftingconnections.net/the-blog/the-paradox-of-nature/
And here’s to connecting with nature and the calm it can bring at the end of the day. Thanks for sharing.
Kim recently posted..Nature Walk
Just lovely! The weather is starting to warm up here ‘down under’ and I want to get my kids outside more after school and kindy instead of the usual slump in front of the TV. Yesterday found three of us snipping our overgrown lawn with scissors for about an hour! Silly but quite absorbing and relaxing.
Jane recently posted..‘allebasi’
we often go for a walk to the beach after nap time, just to enjoy being outside in the fresh air. i find that by the time we come back home the ‘after nap time mood’ has changed and the rest of the afternoon runs a lot more smoothly. x
jo recently posted..spring garden
it’s amazing how the outdoors can change our daily lives! hurray for finding a peaceful transition in your late afternoon!
naturally crafted mama recently posted..{into nature}