For some reason I brought up the idea that we should go for a walk after dinner. Maybe it was because I’m working on making healthier lifestyle choices, or maybe I just wanted to get the twins out of the house. But if you have kids, you are probably familiar with the fact that once you suggest something, it’s as good as promised. My big boy was so excited to go out on a little walk around the neighborhood. It’s been in the high 80’s all week, which is abnormal even for San Diego! A blanket for each girl, flip flops for Mommy and the big boy, and we were off.
My big helper brought along this tiny flashlight with a fading battery ‘to light the way’. He flashed it at everything he could: license plates, signs, sprinklers, the bushes. Meanwhile his energetic little voice was joyfully chattering away. We discovered some exotic/grotesquely enormous spiders in their webs (depending on who you’re talking to). I tried to get a pic of them with my phone, but it was too dark… even with the flashlight. Three of the apartment’s sprinklers were broken and were spewing water out like a hose into the dirt. To a child this made beaches, rivers, and waterfalls in tiny imaginary worlds. The girls’ older brother explained to us all the features of the intricate wetlands created by this water runoff.
We stuck to the sidewalk and well-lit areas, so the flashlight was not really necessary. Its light was mostly visible on the strip of sidewalk in between each street light. My sweet ‘tween compared this place to the areas where Satan is present, but God is our light.
Shortly after arriving home, the girls were in a playful mood. They enlisted their big brother in a game of “tackle babies”. It’s kind of like football. The three of them wrestled, played chasing games, banged on “drums”, and then we all settled down for the night.
These are the moments a mom treasures.