why going outside matters more than the dishes

I think Samuel thinks about going outside from the moment his blond head hits his Backyardigan pillow till the moment he wakes up and tosses his much-loved green and yellow John Deere blanket aside and wanders down the stairs for his gluten free breakfast.

Go outside, momma?

He’ll start asking before breakfast – it doesn’t matter if it’s raining or sunny or 97 degrees. He sees that world of wonder beckoning to him and watches his older brothers run in and out as the day progresses and he just wants his time in that backyard of green.

Go outside, momma?

All morning I made excuses to not go outside. I’ve got dishes, Samuel, I would say. And then laundry, sweeping, and tidying. Truth is? Sigh. I didn’t really want to go outside yet. But, that little face did.

Go outside, momma?

Okay, Samuel. I finally relented and pushed my schedule filled with lots of things to do but none of them urgent in the moment away. As I opened the heavy sliding door to the much in need of new stain deck, my little healthy boy ran past my and scurried down the stairs. He ran from thing to thing to thing – with simple joy on his face.

I found a spot in the grass that needed mowing but I chose to ignore in this moment and watched.

I watched a little boy running in the backyard from toy to toy and back to the fence and to the swingset and again. Then he stopped, and looked at me, and ran over to my always in bloom Black-eyed Susans growing next to the deck. His two little hands grabbed the stem and plucked one of those golden flowers with the black button center out.

For you, momma.

Dishes. And to think that I’d been telling him no for hours and using the dishes as an excuse to not go outside until I was totally ready. He doesn’t care about those dishes being done on time. He just wanted to go outside, to play, to run — and then, when he was there he simply thanked me. There was no complaining about me taking too long, — he just thanked.

Oh, those children, they are constantly teaching me.

Let go of the dishes.
Run in the sun.
Pick the flowers versus leaving them.
Don’t give up.
Thank those you love.
Have patience.
Good things come to those who wait.
Embrace today.

Go outside, momma?

In 5 months, when the world is blanketed in white, I will be thinking of the days when we could just freely walk outside and wishing that I would have done more of it. So now, now I’m going to work to answer yes, we’ll go outside just a little more often.

After all, look at what Samuel taught me.

Little things matter.

More.

*****

thanks so much for the encouraging words and for sharing my post 7 ways to cultivate simple in a busy world from yesterday. It’s a blessing to know that I’m not alone in the quest for stillness in a crazy fast world of information.

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