Setting the Stage

The very thing I find myself missing about my sense of home as a kid is the simple quiet routine of life, but the very thing that terrifies me in the now as a grown up is the simple quiet routine of my life.

I am not sure why, but when someone else is leading, it feels better. Maybe because when we were children we were dependent on our parents and had less responsibilities, but as an adult it doesn’t feel as relaxing to wake up, get everyone breakfast, and off to school, only to face the quiet routine, but I am finding that it is in the little things even routine things that set the stage. And that it is not all about me anymore.

It’s the behind the scenes work in life that makes the biggest impact. The clean/maintained house we live in. The fresh laundered clothes we wear, the breakfast, lunch, and dinners we partake that others have made for us. The filled fridge we come home to and grab a cold drink from, the flowers around the front bed we grow to expect every year of our lives to be there.

As children we just soak up the life that is laid out before us. We help and observe the hard work. We learn to appreciate details, like grandmas red geranium hanging baskets or her petunias in the old birdbath, and store them away for our adult life. We long to grow up and make our own rules and do our own things.

Then life happens, and to some the simple quiet routine still brings them joy and peace as an adult, but to those who still long to feel connected to their inner child-like sense of home and have lost the joy in the simple quiet routine I have some encouragement for you.

The memories we have that bring us joy the simple routine of life as a child was made up of probably the hard work of a woman or a man just like you. She labored night and day cleaning, shopping, planning, reading, and planting. It is the little things that we take for granted and the little things that aren’t always enjoyable, that made home feel like home.

It was the hard work of our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and caretakers that made our lives so carefree and fun. Now it is our turn to do the behind the scene jobs that our kids and friends will remember. It is in the quiet routines of life that we provide the safe feelings, and fun times. We set the stage for life to perform for our families and ourselves.

Although there are days it terrifies me, someone once explained it to me like this: All the fun things you enjoyed as a kid are now in your hands to create for your own kids. You get to be the fun maker. You get to deliver the surprises and create the atmosphere for your children and husband to live in. You can have red geranium hanging baskets but you can also have a rose bush that you use to fancy your table with it is up to you now.

I get to create the memories my kids will remember. I remember making beds with my grandma, my kids will remember the roses on the table, the hot cocoa on cold days, the fire in the fireplace on snow days, family dinners, and spontaneous dance parties. It is in the little things behind the scenes that set the stage. The simple quiet routine matters, don’t let it terrify you like I let it terrify me. It’s your turn to set the stage!