I’m not normally one to brag, but this is just too good not to share.
Today, I left the house. With all 3 kids.
Impressed? Well, maybe you’re not, but I am. I haven’t accomplished this feat in weeks. I’ve had some serious conditional agoraphobia. The condition being that I would only leave the house alone. Is that weird?
You see, we could no longer visit the library, because after many books are late, the library ain’t so free. I have sullied my good name, tarnished my reputation and my library card, and I can’t be seen there. At least not until I take out a line of credit to pay off my late fees. That was our thing. We did the library fairly regularly. But it got to be so stressful and I was so absolutely, inexcusably negligent about returning books on time, that it would make more sense for me to permanently take up residence at Barnes and Noble than to continue going there with any regularity.
We also had the park. Ah the park, in the sunny, cheery days of summer and fall, is a wonderful place to turn the kids loose, walk on some trails, observe nature in all her glory, etc. When winter hits, Momma loses her interest in all things out-of-doors. I know this makes me suck verily, but I cannot do it. It’s so dreadful, so cold and dreary. And the bundling that is required….goodness. The baby and the layers and the car seat and the being car sick after sitting backwards in really hot clothes for awhile while driving across town. Or trying to take her out in the stroller when it’s so cold – it just seems somehow…evil.
So, we make do. We have lunch after school and then depending on the weather, we go from there. If it’s sunny and at least 20 (ish), the kids spend lots of time outside. They invent hilarious scenarios and games and I love hearing about them. They redecorate the deck. They make forts. If it’s awful out, I read to them. A lot. We’re working on Little House in the Big Woods in the afternoons and Brighty of the Grand Canyon before bed. We so enjoy our time reading together, even though the bulk of our schooling is also me reading to them.
So, life is good. I do worry about the fact that we don’t go places much. But it’s not like I’ve closeted us all in this awful dungeon of a house and we stare at each other and hate each other and plot deaths and such. No, we like each other. We like being at home. So, I guess it works for us. Homebodies. Snuggly homebodies. Love.