Most recently I've been reading a book titled Simplicity Parenting. The author brings out a number of ways we can simplify family life to allow childhood to be just that...childhood. A slow and special time of learning, rather than a rushed crash course to adulthood. One idea that stood out to me was in the section on simplifying the daily schedule. Payne suggests dialing back on the number of scheduled activities, and to think more about just enjoying the everyday, rather than having to fill each day with some new and better form of entertainment or specialized educational experience. This built very nicely on a book I read a couple months ago, Teach Your Own, where the author emphasized how everyday activities could be a wonderful learning opportunity because of their immediate and tangible connection to real life.
I have tried to take this to heart by thinking in terms of how we can slow down and enjoy the stuff of daily life, rather than just trying to get through the chores and errands in order to get on to something better. How can we enjoy what we are doing right now? On Friday we had a couple errands downtown and so got on the bike after naptime and set off. After one short stop in the fair trade store downtown, I thought, we have the time, why rush right on to our next errand? What to do? We walked right across the street to the park, checked out the fountain, Cassidy ran after some kids and then tried to play patty-cake with the big Lucy (of Peanuts fame) sculpture. I remembered it was "$2 Freddo Friday" (Freddo is an icy tea or coffee drink in various flavors) at Peet's, and not having had a Freddo previously, we walked down the street to give that a try.
Our next stop on the bike was the plant nursery near our house. I was in search of some fun plant for a house-warming gift, and Cassidy was in search of all the little goat/chicken/horse lawn ornaments they have hiding amongst the plants. Cassidy helped me pick out a lovely dark purple butterfly bush, and she "ooo'd" while the salesperson wrapped the pot in paper decorated with butterflies. She then got to hold the tube of wrapping paper and enjoy hearing how her "helloo" was amplified down the length of the tube. We put the plant in our bike pannier and continued home.
There. Not the most exciting afternoon when it comes to describing it, but as we were on our way home, I realized that I felt totally relaxed. Instead of filling the afternoon with "we need to do this then that, then go here" plus worrying about whether Cassidy was having a good time or getting fussy, I just thought about how we could wrap the whole afternoon into a time of getting things done, but also little moments we could both enjoy.
I know perhaps not every outing is going to look like this, but it opened my eyes to how good it can feel to slow down and enjoy the ordinary moments of each day.
Here's a little ordinary moment at home, somewhat recently:
