Space is an interesting thing.
You can have an entire house of it and yet where does everyone end up? The kitchen...or perhaps it's better to say that in my house everyone tends to end up wherever I am. This is true in many cases, except of course if I am looking for some help, say with dishes or laundry...then of course I have nothing but space. It's a tricky concept. I have young children and it never fails, dinner time comes and of course we are all tripping over each other in the kitchen despite the fact that we have oodles of places to "be" in our home. Between screeches of "no running in the kitchen" and "Sienna GET DOWN" I manage to get dinner made (no telling the state of it) and on the table as my kids ping pong off the cabinets. It is not always pretty. Dinner and beyond usually turn into my "Calgon...take me away" moments where I find myself dreaming and wishing for endless amounts of the elusive thing called "space". Space to breathe, space to walk across the kitchen without a child stuck to my leg, space to just BE.
Ironically enough, today, space was my thing to be thankful for.
My kids and I had the opportunity to go and explore Independence Mine in Hatcher's Pass today with friends. It was an amazing outdoor experience hiking among the mossy rocks and exploring the nooks and crannies created by all of the massive boulders littering the valley. Upon being released from the car my kids were off and scrambling up the path trying hard to make it to the "top" while us adults followed behind. The kids would run up ahead of us and back again, making their hike at least twice as long as ours, yet not minding a bit. Space had finally been achieved, and lots of it. You could almost see it in their faces as they relaxed into the feeling that they were FREE. We spent the afternoon picking our way along a lazy loop, stopping along the way to have lunch and finally making it back to the car. It was absolutely a perfect afternoon.
As we arrived back home from our adventure we readied ourselves for afternoon naps...which at our house is usually a very challenging time. The kids, thoroughly exhausted from the morning, climbed into their beds and snuggled into their cozy covers settling in right away. I took the chance to lay down myself in my own bed relishing the lingering magic of the morning and reflecting on the interesting relationship that I have with "space". As I started to drift off I felt a shifting of the bed and realized that I had company...two little bodies had burrowed their way into my covers. Space is a wonderful thing and sometimes all it takes is just a little bit to really appreciate the truly important things in your life.
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