Just a Vintage Girl

I like being at home. No- I LOVE being at home. I like cooking. I like keeping a tidy house. I like providing my boys with a homey atmosphere in which they can thrive and grow. I like peace. I like quietness with no agenda. I like having no pressure to go out and do things outside of my home. I like being with my boys- just us. I like folding their laundry. I like working on Kindergarten skills with my 5-year-old. I like reading board books with my 20-month-old. I like tickling and talking gibberish with my 6-month-old. These moments are simple, yes. These moments are bliss.

I dream of gardening while my boys frolic and play around me. Ok, maybe not frolic. Maybe rough-house. I dream of creating a gingerbread house from scratch in my jammies with my boys eating 4 candies for every one they put on their house. I dream of long afternoons with all of us reading on the bed and just being with my babies. You get the idea. I am a domestic lady at heart. My home is my haven. There is precious little that entices me away from it. I do enjoy seeing my friends. I do enjoy my boys getting to the park and being with their friends. I do enjoy exposing my boys to culture. I just don't want that to be our purpose. I don't want my life to be a hustle-bustle of getting from one activity to the next only to return home at the end of each day exhausted and wiped out.

The older I get and the longer I do this "mom" thing, the more I realize I'm good when I commit to no more than one or two activities a week outside my home. I realize I may not be the norm, but I think it's good for my kids to be at home all day most days. I think it's good for them to entertain themselves in their own realm and not need to be entertained by the world outside every day. Aquariums, amusement parks and malls are great, but they are special once-in-a-while experiences for us.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm not supposed to be more outside-minded. You know, make play-dates 3-4 days a week with other activities thrown in on the other 2 or so days in between. Get those kids' energy burned off! I wonder if I'm supposed to be more social and get out with my friends more often. But then I realize I thrive when I keep it simple. That is what works best for this family. When I keep it simple, I don't stress out and therefore don't stress my family out. All they need truly is at home right now. There will come a day when they are old enough to have outside lives. Baseball games and school dances will dictate a lot of where and how we spend our time. But not now. Now is when we get to just be here, at home.

It's good to remember who I am. When I do that, I know my own limits. And when I do that my family is content and happy and serene. I suppose I'm just a vintage girl living in a modern world, and proud of it!