A Nice Day Out - City version & Country version

Lately, we've had a couple low key days with just the right time and space for both kids to play and explore the world around them and just enough coffee and fresh air for me to relax and enjoy watching them.

The Country Day... We headed out to Drumlin Farm. It was a cool day and the trees along route 2 towards Lincoln are picture perfect. Henry loves all the animals. Isabelle is quick to point out any "stink" and nervously asks where the foxes are and do we have to go see them and where is the skunk...followed by 500 questions so that she can know as much as possible about these animals to help her not be afraid.

The kids spend the majority of their time digging in the dirt patch in the garden with trowels. I sit on a platform in the sun and inhale the wafting scent of basil: a strong summer smell weaving it's way into this fall air.

The farm is quiet. There is a small burst of energy as a school group walks by. Isabelle, Henry and I have a small snack and watch one of the preschool farm classes do some chores.

We then head over to our Lindentree Farm and harvest our last raspberries, and pick up our horn of plenty for the season. The brussel sprouts are blanched and frozen waiting for Dad (and whoever else will eat them with me) at Thanksgiving.


The city day...Henry, Sydney, Samantha and I started our day as usual trying to figure who was napping when and what we could do that morning. It was a beautiful day so we chose Newbury St. a little shopping, a little walking, some coffee and a bite to eat and the Clarendon St. playground. Henry and Sydney were in heaven with all the toys and structures at the playground and I was in heaven with all the goodies and styles in the shops.

At the playground we are surrounded by children in a range of fashions, many nannies and the odd mom somewhat styled and fashionable with perhaps an oat or two stuck to her pantleg and a cell phone stuck to her ear. I was in awe watching Sydney and Henry in all their cuteness just taking in the scene of toys, kids, a couple dry leaves for Sydney to sample before she picked up Henry's discarded madeleine. They were so happy. Henry almost ran over a small group of nannies dressed in their puffy vest with the requisite shawl or pashmina thrown over it as he backed up the toy car because he doesn't know how to go forwards yet. What made this day so nice aside from the shopping and the weather was that I could appreciate the time I have with the kids. The moms that were there (2 of about 12 adults and one had her nanny with her)looked miserable and lost. Yes, I have my days when I feel like I need to be peeled off the floor, but I never feel the way those moms looked.

Also, for parking...after a couple times of circling the street a man waited for us (it seemed) we asked if he was leaving and he pulled out for us. Then he got out and gave us his parking stub with an extra hour. That was a nice start to our outing.

Life is good.

Leah

(Stream of conscience writing...not going to edit..have other stuff to do>)

Spinning, stretching, pushing, pulling but not working out

So this past week or perhaps two, I've felt like a lost ball thrown hastily into the back of the car or perhaps dropped there on day. We are driving along a dirt road. I'm an inanimate passenger in my own life just being thrown from one direction to the next, rebounding, getting stuck and rolling back.

My driver? A 3 year old child. That can't be good.

I have moments where I'm myself. The moments are like one spark of a sparkler. I see Isabelle taking care of Henry. Henry's laughing at Isabelle and she is trying so hard to recapture that moment over and over again as the sit in their car seats in the back of my car. I see Henry study Isabelle. Henry climbs the stairs ahead of me and puts his hand up and says "Wait!", just like his sister does not really knowing what he just said or did. Henry putting a dishtowel in the washing machine closing the door and reaching up to turn the knob. These moments are spectacular and brilliant and full of lightness, but I can't hold on to them. I don't think we're allowed to hold on to them.

The rest of the time is difficult. Henry wants to do and see and have what his big sister does. Isabelle wants the support that Henry gets because he can't do what she does. I want to figure it out so everyone can get what they want and what they need, but that doesn't work because really...I have no idea what we all need or what it is that we really even want. I've decided I think to much, but that really doesn't help much.

So for now what is working is for me to roll with the punches. I'll try to steer a little and enjoy the ride. We'll see where that brings us tomorrow, next week, and beyond.

Fall Season of Change

Fall might actually be here and for that I am grateful. I can't really handle 80-90 degree days in October.

I want to enjoy the warmer clothes, cozier nights, and Fall walks with the kids.

Small thoughts today. I'm just trying to distract myself from Henry's cries as he decides not to nap and my mind racing wondering if he's not actually tired and his nap is shifting, or if he's just fighting harder now.

I had to smile when I went up after a failed afternoon nap to see that Henry had thrown all his pillows and bedtime toys on the ground. My little rebel...fighting naps with a vengeance.

I'm trying to go with the flow let the winds of change sway me from side to side before they softly lay me down on the ground to be kicked up again. I'm not succeeding yet...but tomorrow is another day.

Grocery Stories

I have memories of where, when, how I shopped from the days my mom carted me around from store to store to now when I cart my kids around from store to store.

We belong to a CSA this year. I love it. I relish taking my kids to the farm and watching Henry pluck raspberries from the bushes and eat them. I enjoy trying new recipes and figuring out how to cook everything before it spoils while pleasing Dan's palate, the kids' palates and mine.

I love that the tops and tails of the green beans and the bok choy I never got around to cooking sit in a little black box in the yard decomposing into compost to feed our plants next year.

Lindentree Farms has made me even more aware of where my food comes from. I refuse to buy California "baby" carrots when I know there are carrots growing locally right now. It has brought me to the less fancy supermarkets that are locally owned. I notice that more food comes from closer by at Market Basket (aforementioned locally-owned market). I can even find organic baby carrots from NJ not CA.

I love the setting sun. Isabelle covered in dirt returning home too late with feet as black as the sky. Henry's laugh; a little nervous, mostly excited when he hovers around Pearl the dog. Me letting go of figuring out dinner for everyone, worrying about getting everyone's bath and bedtime on time, wondering when Henry, Isabelle, Dan, and I will finally settle down for the evening and let sleep take over. I grab some food from Formaggio, take the bag as is, we go harvest, play, picnic and get home when we get home children asleep or awake.