pleased

 Last week I managed to have enough energy to interact with my children more, parent them the way I always wish I had the energy for, and went on a walk with the kiddos.  It wasn't very far -- I'd say half a mile at most.  But I was pushing BOTH kids in the double stroller.  We walked to a nearby grassy area.  The kids LOVED getting outside since we've been cooped up too long.  They ran and ran like children should.

But I soon realized that pushing a 32 lbs and a 22 lbs girl in an already heavy double stroller was not a smart idea.  I may have overdone it that day.  I spent the rest of the day just waiting on the edge of my seat expecting a huge "fall".  Thankfully there wasn't anything major, but I did end up being quite a bit off my feet for the rest of the day.

Well, it was just so unfortunate that walks weren't going to work because we happened to get a snap of cooler weather, making being outside so much more bearable.

So I made a sweep of the backyard to make sure we didn't have any unscrupulous bugs that might hurt the kids (no we don't have ticks in the backyard, thankfully!) and then asked them if they wanted to play out there.  Sadly, I can't just send them out there alone.  My youngest would most likely get into too much trouble.  She needs supervision.  So I grabbed one of our reclining beach chairs and set it out there, resting the whole time, watching my kids play.  It was such a joy!

Sometimes I find that when I'm cooped up on the couch feeling awful, all I see are my children disobeying, being naughty, being unkind to each other, and not speaking to their mother as they should.  I can tend to focus on the bad they are doing instead of seeing their creativity and kid-life and the times they DO obey, treat each other sweetly, and speak nicely to me.

It was nice to remove myself from the couch (even if I did recline outside!) and get the reminder to really watch my children inside the house and out :)

*disclaimer* - just because I felt the need to rest this week, doesn't mean I was having a bad week; on the contrary, I was doing really well and doing extra stuff, and therefore needed to rest more :)