Finding Joy at the Park

Last Tuesday the girls and I met up with some friends at Victoria Park in Kitchener. They have installed a new playground which is a lot of fun.

One of the new features of the playground is a structure that looks like a boat. The kids sit on it and then an adult can rock it back and forth. Now most parents usually just move it unenthusiastically just to rock it while waiting for their child to get off and then passing the rocking onto the next suckered adult. I know it is not a very positive way to look at it, but you as parents, you know what I'm talking about.

Well on this Tuesday the kids were in for a treat. There was a young man there, probably in his late teens who I'm assuming had some sort of mental special need, who was able to transport the kids into a world of fun on the high seas. He would stand near the entrance of the ship and yell "All aboard". The kids would rush on and take their positions. Then he would walk around this ship doing the safety check, mostly to make sure that no one was underneath. He would then get into position, ask someone to "ring the bell" and off he would go rocking the boat. The kids would then laugh and have fun as the boat moved up and down causing them to sway, loose balance and just have fun. After a few minutes the young man would stop. The kids who wanted to get off would and new kids who wanted to join would get on. He would then start again with "All aboard" shouted in this incredible booming voice.

While this boat thing is usually popular, I must admit I had never seen so many kids on it at once as when this young man was doing his thing. The kids just loved it. I think he loved it too. They were all just having fun and experiencing pure joy.

It got me thinking about how we as hardened adults of the world don't, as often as we should, take the time to let ourselves go enough to experience these pure joy moments. We are hustling and bustling trying to do things as fast as we can to move onto the next things. At the park I am usually on high alert at all times because Miss P likes to run, and she can run fast and silently. Seriously she must be part ninja or secret agent. Her agility, stealth and speed is quite astonishing. Anyways, because of Miss P's super set of skills it is hard to relax and really enjoy the moments at the park because I feel so preoccupied with Miss P's location. We miss out on a lot of moments of joy when we are distracted or moving too fast.

After this experience I am trying to make a conscious effort to slow down and look at the world through my kids eyes. Take in their joys. This past Friday Miss G and I had to go to the mall to find a bathing suit. Trying to find a kids bathing suit in July is an impossible task, which is kind of dumb because it is still summer and they should still have bathing suits a plenty, in my opinion anyways. So we had to go to store to store. I was feeling like I just wanted to rush it because I just wanted to get out of the mall, it is not my happy place. But Miss G showed me that even in the Mall small and simple pleasures can be found. We stood and watched the fountains for a bit. She then saw some tiles in a cool pattern that she had to investigate. Seeing the mall through her eyes helped me slow down and enjoy the experience a bit more.

I don't know why we feel we need to be running ourselves ragged, trying to get things done lickity split. While there are times when that is necessary, most of the time it is not. No wonder there are so many people stressed, strained, feeling overworked and depressed. Sometimes you really need to slow down and appreciate what's around you and find the small and simple joys that life is freely and constantly offering you if you just slow down enough to recognize it.

So thank you young man, whoever you are. You made a lasting impact on me and all the children you helped that day. Never loose your happy spirit. You are special beyond measure and you made everyone around you feel special too.

A Busy Start to the Summer

The past two weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster, hence no posts


Schools done which is awesome! For being on summer vacation for just two weeks we have done quite a lot. We have gone on a mini-road trip up to my mom's. I love going up to Bancroft, ON. It means I am super close to one of my happy places. It is a store called "The Shed" and it has the awesomest stuff. It has cool handcrafted furniture. It has awesome art work and the coolest wooden flowers. Each time I go up I buy some more flowers to grow my year round garden.

here are my latest purchases

On Canada Day we went to the movies (which is a rare occurrence for us), we got to splash around in a friends pool and then the older girls and my husband went to watch fire works. I stayed home with Miss P. and went to bed at a reasonable time.

Then on the weekend my church had a BBQ and then we went to some other friends new property and swam in their pool. (I don't think we will have to worry about not having a place to swim this summer!)

Then on Monday we went to Kiwanis Park to swim. Tuesday we went mini-golfing. Wednesday we went for a bike ride. Thursday we went to Music and Movies in Waterloo park. One of our favourite local entertainers, Erick Traplin, was the musical presenter. We always enjoy his sets. And the the movie we watched was Sponge Bob... definitely not my first choice, but the kids liked it.

Miss V waiting for the movie to start

There have also been trips to the library, the optometrist, other errands and hanging out. What a busy time!

the supersquad

Now we are trying to turn our focus to building the girls a little play house in the backyard and refinishing a part of the basement to make it our office/craft room. I will definitely have more posts on that coming up.

What fun things have you been doing this summer.