I can breathe again. My kids can breathe. A lot. They can run, jump, splat, and skip. They can wrestle, paw, gnaw, and whoop. They can hula, scale, scream, and shout.
I don’t care.
They are OUTSIDE.
Outside, outside, OUT. SIDE.
Finally! The sun is back! I swear colors are more vivid, don’t you? My house feels bigger – like we’ve added an entirely new wing. My attitude is adjusted and I’m more laid back. All because of one thing: the sun.
The last time I remember feeling really laid back was before Halloween. I think I pretty much tense up from Halloween until after Valentine’s Day. The constant pressure to perform at holidays knots me, and I never realize it. Mother Nature throws in torrential rains every week, consecutive snow days, and sub-30 temps, and put a fork in me: I’m done.
But then it finally ends. Just like it did this weekend. I mean, SURELY we are at the end of that horrid winter thing.
We are, aren’t we?
I had the best day on Saturday. My husband and oldest son were at Beech Mountain enjoying the last ski day of the year, and I had the other kids and a few extras (always a few extras) at my house. I spent the entire day busying myself in the kitchen while they played outside.
No drama. No sounds of cattle careening across my upstairs hallway. No chandeliers teetering. No lamps swaying. No electronics. No complaints.
They pulled out every yard toy we own, and since I was mostly looking out from the kitchen window, it was like it wasn’t even happening to my house. It was like I was watching someone else’s happy kids, and that made me very happy. No Legos to step over, no art supplies to clean up, and no snow boots to wipe down.
There were bare feet, bare legs, and, for the boys, bare chests. There were rip sticks, hula-hoops, soccer goals, and jump ropes. There was music, dancing, singing and running.
We finally tasted the freedom that the sun brings. That delicious, cold-popsicle, beer-on-the-porch, warmth-on-your-face freedom that only a sunny weekend in Charlotte can give us.
I say Bring. It. On. (But not too much, because then it’s August, and then it’s Halloween, and then…well, you know.)
