Between a snow day, Presidents’ Day, and an ice day, there has been a lot of time within a week of children at home. It is delightful. It is stressful. The day seems long. There are more moments of connection, even if it is just about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yesterday afforded my family a chance to have a loving goodbye to our sweet-souled Snickers, a dog friend we adopted late in his life who ended up with an aggressive bone cancer. Our days off gave us all a little more time with him.
I’ve been noticing the commercial that advocates putting your phone down for 5 – five minutes, five hours – we couldn’t fathom five days or weeks, could we? It cracks me up when the guy looking at his phone falls into a pool but manages to keep his phone from going in. Texting to pass the peas. Putting the phones down and having absolutely no idea what to say.
I think when it really comes down to it, children just love when we focus on them and do what they like doing in the moment. What they want most from us is us, even if they pretend not to or push us away. Our presence, our pride and joy in them, our delight, even when bedtime seems a long way off.
The moments of connection knit the strands of love that make a fabric that will stand the test of time.
