Simplicity

About five years ago I walked into my friend J's apartment and saw a sign hanging in her living room. It was a rustic wooden sign and in a plain font clearly painted across this piece of wood, was this word SIMPLIFY. Boy, what a concept! It became a personal joke between J and I. Because if I were to hang a sign in my house it would read COMPLICATE. It would be mirrored and bedazzled with bows and ribbons hanging off of it. At that time in my life, I didn't simplify. Everything I did had to be grandiose. I'm the kind of girl who thinks about the favors and decorations for a party a year in advance. That's what I mean by complicate. Things weren't usually done spur of the moment or on a simple scale.

Having a baby has changed all of that. I wear sweatpants out in public, and yes, I even wear athletic sneakers with jeans. Gasp. I don't run around crazy cleaning my house, lighting candles and putting out fresh flowers when guests are coming (alright, sometimes I still do), and I even have the furniture in my living room set up in a functional manner. To me, I am living my simplest life yet. I enjoy the simplicity that C has brought to me. Simple love is the best kind of all.

Kids are pretty simple if you think about it. It's the littlest things that make them happy. Being held, being fed, being loved. I can do those things and none of them involve bows or rhinestones.

C's brand new Little Tikes swing is a perfect example of this simple joy. I wish you could have seen her today when I placed her in the seat! She lit up like a Christmas Tree! She was squealing and kicking her legs and she was all smiles. She liked big pushes and she'd shake her head and take a big breath in when the wind would kick up and blow in her face. Oh it was priceless! The simplicity of the swing was exactly was she was up for this afternoon.

I would have run right in and grabbed the video camera, but as you know, I couldn't leave her in the front yard alone. By the time I got her out of the swing, went in the house, got the camera and got her back outside in the swing, the moment was lost. She was back to Little Miss Serious. Oh well. No footage to share the moment. I'll keep that little memory of her first swing ride etched in my mind forever.

As a former teacher, summer has always meant calmness to me. No routine, no schedules, just a whole lot of what I wanted to do - spur of the moment! I'm not sure I'd describe my current life as calm, however, I'm excited about this summer's adventures with little C (her choice, of course). I'm looking forward to whatever the simple days of summer bring, as long as it's WARM.