Random Tidbit

My 8-year old son's baseball team is out of their playoff tournament, (yes, earlier than hoped).  I cannot say that I am happy, because, honestly, are you ever really, truly happy about something if your child is depressed about the same exact thing?  I can say, however, that I am grateful that I will have a lot more time now to do other things.  Those baseball games can go on... and on... and on.

(He's in red.)

And along with that random tidbit of my current thoughts, I have decided that I am addicted to gardening.  I just came inside - just barely.  I went out after everyone went to bed, started "cleaning up" a bit, and couldn't resist grabbing my gloves and hacking a huge bush with my loppers, and then weeding a section of my front yard.  I only came in because I could no longer see what I was doing.

I think gardening has somewhat of a renewing effect.  It is not only relaxing (de-stressing), but it is also extremely rewarding to see the effects of your hard work, to see things grow, to bring beauty to the world immediately around you.  I just love it - and I highly recommend it... for personal health, peace and happiness, etc.

I feel strongly that we need to be outdoors just as much as our children do.  It makes us feel good - no, wonderful - inside.  I love this post: Good Things Come to Kids Who Wait.  The author describes how amazing it can be to "wait for the natural world to forget you are there," and reminds us in a beautiful way how important it is that we teach our children to observe nature, to be patient, to focus for long periods of time, and most importantly to recognize "the rewards that come with waiting."