nature calms

I think I've mentioned before that my son, in his four year old glory is going through a challenging time. It is the age of the will, his not mine. Yesterday we knew it was going to be a hard day, right from when he came into our room and woke up the baby. It was a morning of struggle. Struggle to get him dressed, struggle to get him to eat, struggle for him to listen....struggle. There were time outs, tears, even the slamming of a door, by lunch time, I knew we had to get out.

We left for the beach with buckets in hand. The transformation was amazing, suddenly our son who had been struggling all day was calm, quiet and happy. As he looked for sand dollars, I breathed in the moment of peace that I had so longed for all day. My daughter who had been screaming in the car because she was hungry and we in our divine wisdom who forgot to bring any food for her, sat quietly with me and breastfed. Thank God for breastmilk, food that's always there, even when you forget the rice cakes!

The rest of the day was spent picking blackberries, playing at a playground, watching my boy climb over a fence to run into a farm to say hi to the cows, watching my daughter stand up, on her own for the very first time and an amazing meal at Merridale Cidery (they have pizza night on Sundays. We ate on the deck, the kids were fantastic and I felt a world away).

There is something so calming about the power of nature, the quiet in the sound of the waves, the song of the bird, the satisfying comfort of breastmilk. The power in watching our children mirror the stillness and calm of the natural world around them. What a gift.