Blessings of Bare

There is a lot to be said for stripping your house down to the bare bones. We are all getting quite comfortable, and actually enjoying, our nightly tradition of hauling the living room table into the kitchen to serve as our dining table (we no longer eat in the dining room - one less floor to keep clean). We wind up all very close crammed around the little table. There is something about sitting directly on the linoleum that makes us all feel a little giddy - like we are breaking a rule and getting away with it.

Another perk of having a virtually empty house is that there is nothing to do. Consequently, we talk. We play tickle games, and one or two of the board games salvaged from the packing boxes to help us ride out these last few weeks. A trip to the library is monumental, providing bedtime reading material for a solid week, instead of library books being tossed and lost among all of the other books in the house within hours after bringing them in the door (we ALWAYS have at least 50 library books checked out - we have had to seriously cut back in order to keep the empty house looking empty - library books have never felt so precious).

The kids have a modest-sized toy box with a handful of toys in the family room. The result - they actually play with the toys! There is nothing else to do so my kids have dumped out the pillowcase full of blocks nearly everyday and then actually built something with them. It's amazing! They say blocks are one of those timeless toys that allow little imaginations to run wild. Before the extradition of all other toys in the house I would have said, "Yeah, right." But, no more. I am a believer in the power of blocks. My children produce castles, caves, parking garages, car ramps, race tracks, and compounds (complete with courtyard, main house and hidden sleeping quarters). The list goes on.

I have had the wonderful opportunity, now that the zoo-i-ness of "remodeling" is over, to get serious about being a great mom again. I am amazed at how easy it is to lose track of the good stuff and why I do it. This slight lull between transitions is turning into a blessing of peace and serenity in our lives. We can do nothing but wait on others at this point, but we are blessed to wait in a splendidly sweet manner.