Spring Evenings

As a working parent, I miss many spring mornings with the kids. I miss the walks to school, now that it is warm enough to do that again. I miss checking out the neighbors yards and the woods around the school for the first spring flowers.

I miss the spring lunches, when it just might be possible to eat outside again. I miss packing a lunch and going to a park or letting Jameson throw rocks in the river.

(Evidently yesterday I missed a long photo-shoot on the front lawn, where Jameson demonstrated his jumping ability.)

I miss the afternoons, and the lingering on the school playground. The excitement of kids free from their obligations, ready to jump in puddles, get dirty, and scream and shout with abandon.

It would be easy to feel sorry for myself, if it weren't for the spring evenings.

Spring evenings... those evenings where the sun stays out just a little longer every day. The evenings where it is just warm enough to go out with a light jacket (or two). We eat an early dinner, and then I start the big production of getting two boys into shoes and sweatshirts and coats and out the door.

The recent favorite spot has been the “key-hole” on our street. I call it a cul-de-sac, but apparently in Stefan’s language it is a keyhole. The kids yell, “The keyhole Mama, let’s go to the KEYHOLE!” We head out the door, and the boys run off their energy while I inhale the fresh air almost like a drowning victim---drowning from too much time in a stuffy office building. We relish the idea that we are outside playing rather than trapped inside by darkness or frigid temperatures.

I get to watch them demonstrate their abilities (WATCH THIS MAMA is said at least 200 times). I get to watch them laugh and show-off and play together. Most importantly, I get my time with these two little creatures of mine, where I get to watch them change and grow just a little more every day.

Ahh… spring evenings.

A few more pictures are uploaded here to my early spring flickr set, mostly of Jameson. He was dawdling, while Alex had rushed home. I went to town, taking pictures of those curls and that amazing smile.