Sand and Snow

This evening I'm sitting on the couch doing a bit of knitting. It's a two year project I'm determined to finish this year! Maddy is playing on her computer while Katie is giving Ali a pedicure. It's quiet and calm. Numerous times today Ali has told me today was the most fun he has ever had. And Maddy thinks it's the best day ever! I'm sitting here sipping my cocoa and I'd have to agree with them. Before the kids woke this morning I was reading an article about unschooling by Ren Allen. This is the particular paragraph that stuck in my mind

"I wake up sometimes and really think about how I will respond THIS day. Just today I'm going to be utterly present for my children, I'm going to be in their world (not just doing my own thing while they do theirs), I'm going to really hear them...Those are the days that things really flow, that I'm not getting as frustrated (even when challenges arise), because I've made a CHOICE. "

So I made a choice to be fully present in their day today. It went something like this...

We head to Coronado (on the coast) to go ice skating. We all laughed as the kids twirled and jumped in their skates. The kids are seasoned skaters and are drawing a crowd to watch. The whole time the sun shined and the waves rolled in on the beach beside us. After an hour on the ice we plant our feet in the sand and collect shells along the waters edge. Maddy found a little hermit crab and we all sat and waited for it to come out of it's shell. When the kids got tired of waiting, I was volunteered to babysit the crab while they searched for more treasures. Ali comes running with more shells and another bigger hermit crab. They decide to put them in Katie's sand bucket with some water...she is thrilled to carry it around even though the water is sloshing all over her as she walks. We decide to sit awhile and watch one of the crabs scurry along. Katie holds the bigger crab calling him to come out..he never does. About two hours in now and Maddy suggest they go back and skate before the rink closes. It's five o'clock now and the kids come off the ice with little snowballs...Ali helps Maddy take her skates off and I bring them some hot chocolate. Katie spills hers all down the front of her sweater, so Ali picks her up and drys her off while I clean up. The sun is setting now so we head back to the beach to watch it. The kids are digging a big pit and I'm not allowed to be there until it is done. So I sit on the bench and watch the three of them dig in the dark. Finally they call me and they are all three in the "pit". No one else is on the beach now except me and my kids. The Christmas lights are bright on the boardwalk, enough so we can see where we are going when we start walking to the car. We are all wet, sandy and cold...and we don't care.