Family

October 2 | Family

She is hanging upside down, Spiderman style, from the ceiling handle of the minivan.  Her brand new shirt has already been baptized with red lollipop smudges.  Her 3-year-old curls spring away from her upside down head in spirals of jubilation.

She is tinkering at her desk.  At 6, already trusted with the sharp scissors identifiable by the long blue handles.  Fabric is snipped.  Thread is threaded.  Ribbons are pilfered and reused.  She emerges with a doll, a pillow, a stuffed animal, a something attached to a gift wrap tube.  Always, she passes her creations off to someone else, a desperate need to gift fueling her tinkering frenzy.

He is making inhuman noises on the Persian carpet.  “Ooofffs” and “Ughhhhs” and “Aaaarghhs.”  Because this is the soundtrack that plays every day at 6 pm shortly after the front door bangs open.  His body sprouts four extra legs, four extra arms, forty extra fingers and toes.  This alien lifeform is the most beloved lifeform in the house.  We feed him, water him, coddle him, demand flips, demand hugs, demand Daddy tackle fights.  He is either truly alien or inhumanly patient.

This is my family.  They are part like me, part extension of me, and part wholly alien.  The swirling mass of them soothes me, encourages me, and inspires me.  Also, the swirling mass exhausts me.  But then we spin back around, and I’m energized all over again.  Love, and beloved family, is just like that.

For the month of October, I’m joining in on 31 Days of 5 Minute Free Writes and so looking forward to the chance to notice and appreciate and set free the moments in life that bring joy in the midst of chaos.  It won’t take me long to write, following the rules to write an unedited response to a prompt in 5 minutes, but the insights and gratitude I gain in that short time will lift my soul skyward for the day.  Join me in reading!  Grateful for the challenge of Write 31 Days.