He’s quiet. He goes about his day in quiet ways, (although his quiet ways usually involve a screaming sibling!) and I find myself yelling for him in the house only to realize he’s in the next room and has been there for a while. Sunday afternoon I hadn’t seen or heard from him in a while and as I walked through the room to get Briggs up from his nap, I found him laying on the bench in the dining room quietly reading the Friend magazine. I’ll take this over teasing his siblings!
The hour after the kids walk off the bus ends up being the most busy and chaotic of the day. I sit at the table helping everyone with their homework, as we munch on snacks and talk about the day. Most the kids are done in a flash and they head off to do reading and chores.
This girl is at the table far longer than the others. Long enough that that the once chaotic kitchen turns quiet as everyone disperses to play. And then the sun starts to stream in and it always ends up being my favorite light. Hallie sitting at the table with my favorite warm light is a picture I couldn’t refuse. And then she asked why I was watching her do her homework. Because it’s peaceful among a house of crazy!
Childhood is short.
If I were to name this picture it would be “Swimsuits, tan lines and summer hair”.
That profile. That smile. That light. It captures her perfectly. She seems to be growing at rapid speeds so I’m going to hold on to the mental image of the girl in this picture with her happiness and innocence. Childhood is too short.
They’re working on our streets. It’s loud and messy and our house is vibrating. Bennett was the most curious about the project. Hunter became interested when he saw one truck shooting pieces of broken asphalt into the truck in front of him as they tore up the existing surface. Cannon wasn’t sure what was so interesting but he figured if Bennett and Hunter were interested, he should be too.
Bennett wanted the best seat in the house so he went outside on the sidewalk to watch. A minute later he was back inside because it was too loud. There they stood, the three amigos. I walked by them three times before recognizing the quiet moment between them. They’ve been great together this summer, playing and swimming. And the best part is Cannon plays along with them and thinks he’s a big kid. So much so that he pretended to fall asleep in the car coming home from running errands in hopes that it would count for his nap time, as to not miss out on any boy time. Before long Briggs will be trailing close behind.
Childhood is short.
In the fall, this little guy starts preschool, which means our lazy, music pumping, pajama wearing mornings will come to an end. He prefers that I crank the soundtrack to Moana as he sits at the table with a puzzle and a bowl of cheerios. He doesn’t need help, but he likes me close. Which works until Briggs is crying at my side and tries pulling the pieces off the table.
I’ve tried to get him to try a new puzzle, but this is his favorite. He calls it “Cannon words puzzle” and he can do every word by himself which makes him pretty proud of himself. I think my favorite part about sitting across the table from him while he does his puzzle is his little conversations. He’ll start to tell a story and then get distracted once he finds the peace he’s looking for. In his excitement he forgets he was telling me a story and then moves on to another story. Most the time the story is associated with the word he’s working for and most of the time its a movie quote. “Member, member in Moana…” “Member, member in Zootopia.” Childhood is too short.
