“Mama, Can You Push Me? “

Our new playground in the backyard is a hit for the kids. It motivates them to put their tablets down, go outside, and play. It’s especially a hit for the twins. They are small enough to enjoy it swinging without putting the fear of life in us as parents like our eldest two in making us nervous that it’s going to fall down in swinging vigorously. The twins jumped out of the van as soon as we parked our van running to their mini playground. Following Sunday’s worship service on a clear spring day they did as usual running in excitement to the swings. Toddlers don’t really see you limping out of the car from barking feet from wearing pumps. My Sunday dress wasn’t my usual backyard comfy durable mommy frock that I put on to play with them in the yard. I sat down in one our old plastic lawn chairs to catch my breath in taking in Sunday’s message. I thought about the job ahead of Sunday evening prep for the week. My twin daughter Payton caught me in an gaze of anticipation asking ,” Mama, Can you push me?” It was the distraction I needed to put things in prospective of what’s/ who’s more important in the scheme of it all.

Forget The Dress

I’m guilty of being bombarded in thought of what’s next on the “to do list” of things which seem from pressure to be of the upmost of importance. The transition back to work as a mother from staying at home with the twins makes the needed “to do list” grow longer in knowing that there’s only so much time to squeeze it all in a day with completing work assignments, household maintenance, volunteer commitments, and blog life. The relationships outside of our homes can also be taxing depending on the need, depth, or personality. If we aren’t careful the exterior can take seem more important in obligation to fulfill than the interior of those in our home. There will always be an email waiting for a response, a message lingering from our social media accounts, an invite, a request for you to give of your time, and someone wanting to “catch up” for a three hour conversation. Kids don’t care about if we’re wearing our finest duds, and they don’t care about our “to do list” of what we deem as important. They shouldn’t be put in the position to be concerned on those matters. They should not feel like they are second fiddle to anyone or anything else. I looked at my daughter’s eyes reaching out to connect , and said forget the dress. The twins and I played in the backyard that bright spring Sunday for a for about an hour swinging, picking flowers, and exploring.

Our children won’t be little for long. The older they get the less they reach out for help in expression of independence. Family should never take secondary to our ” to do lists” or fancy duds.