Possibly?
In years past I have always been eager to send the kids back to school. One of the bad parts about having a blog is the permanent aspect to your words. I remember writing that Small World Christian Kindergarten wasn't such a Christian institution given that they started one week later than the ESF primary school.
Typically I am eager to shovel the offspring through the school gates, turn and head home for a nice cup of tea (see, some things haven't changed!)
However, this Christmas holiday was so great, that I admit I was very reluctant to call an end to the hols. Allow me to explain. Charles was working offsite….he took the triplets to sailing one morning and it was just Sebastian and I in the house. We went for a run, then came home. We knew we had about four more hours until the rest of the family joined us. It was relatively quiet.
Predictably, my brown eyed, golden-brown haired boy asked, "what should we do now?) and I said, "well Seb, why don't you read a book?" and he looked at me and said, "Which book?" I suggested his new Diary of a Wimpy Kid and he raced to his room, picked it up and started reading. And then laughing.
For the next few hours we sat on two couches, each with a book, each occasionally turning pages, each occasionally getting up for a drink, wee or a bite to eat. (I was reading ROOM). We didn't exchange more than a sentence, "May I have one too?" "Could you take this?" "You okay?" "Love you." "Please put on socks, I am getting cold" but it was excellent quality time.
(Selfishly, I recognise this because we were doing something I love doing.)
But the whole holiday just seemed to be filled with happy, slow times. Our schedule wasn't crammed, but it was good. We stayed at home, we caught up with friends. We played, did puzzles, read, watched movies together, read the Bible, spent time together. And I was sad to see them don their uniforms Monday morning and head back to school.
Four more weeks until Chinese New Year.
Reader interactions
2 Replies to “new year, new tess?”
Your holiday sounds perfect – just the right amounts of lots of things. Tell me, dear tess, what is wrong with sharing something that you love with your child? Don’t apologize! What if these moments are the moments he remembers with great fondness as he has his own family – the times he spent quietly on the couch with his mom, enjoying a pleasure of yours (and then his) in a house that regularly buzzes with electric energy, but was loving, quiet and warm?
We all love rainy day memories of childhood, when the routine would change up on us, don’t we? Consider this your rain-date with Seb.
So glad you are writing – no matter how long it lasts, it is such a pleasure to share the window in to your life.
How delighted I am to see you writing again! Welcome back to blog world – we have missed you. ok, ok, I admit – I have missed the regular updates on my wonderful, talented, gorgeous neices and nephews. Did I mention how beautiful I think they are? And to sit on the couch reading with your son (my very handsome nephew) sounds like a perfect way to spend a few hours. Can you imagine your heartache if he could not read? Can you imagine your frustration if he could not sit still for long enough to read? Ah, you have taken advantage of his talent to read and your love to read and mixed them together in a relaxing time spent together. Well done, dear SIL! Love to you all, hugs and kisses all round.