It started with a trip with the youngest to the local library. He checked out as many DVDs as they would let him have: X-Men, Superman, Huckleberry Finn, etc.
Saturday afternoon we baked chocolate chip cookies. The youngest is at the perfect age to enjoy cracking the eggs, mixing the batter, etc.
That afternoon, DH barbecued. All that day, the boys played with Legos on the floor and watched their DVDs. Often, DH was on the floor with them, and sometimes as they rolled on the floor they reminded me of a family of polar bears.
I mostly read all weekend, cocooned in pillows, nursing massive quantities of fluids, gingerly monitoring the progress of kidney stones transiting through my body while surveying the fun the guys were having. (Not much happened with the stones, and as I write this there has been progress but the fat lady isn't ready to sing yet. Pray for me.)
The book was one of the best I've read this year. "Whispers" by Ronald K. Siegal. I laughed, flinched, shuddered, shook my head in amazement and disbelief, and several times told DH, "You gotta read this!"
The boys also did some homework, because one turned in messy work that was returned home, and the other had unfinished classwork. The message: "What you don't finish at school you finish at home."
Saturday night we had one of our "slumber parties" again, where the boys got to stay up as late as they could manage, sleeping in bags on the family room floor. They love that.
Sunday we poured hulled sunflower seeds into the pancake batter, which from now on is the ONLY way we make pancakes in this house, lol! The youngest is now tall enough to flip the pancakes like a pro, which is a major milestone. There was so much leftover barbecue that I still don't have to cook and it's Tuesday already. In fact, we need to swear off meat until our Mabon picnic on Saturday. We are going to be vegetarian for three days.
Sunday afternoon the boys jumped on the trampoline, and did a little cleaning up.
After the boys went to bed, DH and I watched "Mean Creek," a frightening movie that raises interesting questions about the inherent worth and dignity of schoolyard bullies, the process of dehumanizing people before victimizing them, the role of family and parents in the lives of adolescents and teenagers; and how youth are portrayed in the media.
We ended the weekend with shamanic drumming session under the waxing moon. I experimented with trying to draw the fairies I could see in my mind's eye as they flew swift and low over wild, misty land. When it was my turn to drum, my hands tired before DH was done journeying. Hopefully my stamina will increase easily.
It's hard to convey in words how connected we were to each other. The activities were so mundane, so unambitious. I felt insulated and serene. There were no expectations. I kept marveling at how much I love my boys, at how precious each moment is with them, and how many opportunities we are given to explore love as a verb, an "action word" as my youngest would say. There are so many ways to love. I want to try them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment