Days at Home

My husband and I are in the process of raising six children.  4 of our 6 have graduated, and we  are down to our finishing work raising our last 2.  It used to be, with 6 children, I was home many days of the week.  With 6 children you don’t just run out and galavant around very easy.  I love being home.  I remember being home some weeks 2 or 3 days in a row.  These days that seems like a dream.  We are much more mobile now.  

With no babies in the house we can do more things outside the home.  My husband’s office is closer to where we live now, and I am involved there quite often.  We are more involved in our community.  We take more classes, interact with more people.  It’s a different season.  And I like it.  I think if fits who we are right now and overall, it’s good.  

But there is a certain pandemonium to life if you don’t have days when you don’t go any where, you are just home.  You can catch up on things.  You can clean your house, do your paperwork, get a little project or 2 done, make your phone calls, do your planning, sit side-by-side with your children, cook some good food.  Those days at home are your grounding, fueling days.  They are the days that propel you forward in meaningful ways the rest of the week.  Without them, you’re not quite sure who you are, what you’re doing or why.  You’re just running franticly from one thing to another.

So these days, we love our life.  We love the things we can do and the good we can do in our community.  But each week I look at our calendar and I pick out at least one day, not including the weekend, that we will defy the status quo and refuse to run the rat race, and we will just “be home”.  And some weeks that may mean painfully canceling an event or two to pull this off.  

One day during the week doesn’t seem like much. I wish it could be more.  But, in the great scheme of things, I think that this “small thing” will be one of our most important accomplishments.