No. 80: 7 Rhythms and Routines Working in Our Household Right Now

From marriage to parenthood, these are our current game changers

In today’s letter, I’ll be sharing:

+the seven random but wonderful things (including a screen time break for the kids) helping things run smoothly in our home and family
+the curling iron for all my curly girls
+the fruit fly solution I thank the Lord and Amazon for every Spring
+a couple sneak peeks at the nearly finished new house

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There’s always something magical about the nine month postpartum mark, but when the nine month postpartum mark lines up with the start of Spring and the final weeks of a three year long renovation, it’s extra sweet. We’re in the middle of so many endings with the school year wrapping up next month, the new house wrapping up this month and it feels like an ending of sorts, too, this nine month milestone. I’m still nursing, I’m still with him all day long, he still is a little baby that needs endless care and chasing and protection from his own desperate desires to eat a Lego head and climb the stairs. But the true thick of Enakhe’s newborn-ness is behind us. The indelible leash between us for those long months of exclusive breastfeeding, the sleepless nights, the blowouts and fears of mastitis and so many impossibilities are still recent enough to be fresh in my memory—but a memory nonetheless.

This “ending” of infancy is the shift that has led to the biggest collective exhale for O and I. The world opens up in a new way that calls for evaluation and imagination. So many of the shifts we’ve made just happened with little (zero?) effort on our part. Others, though, are the result of careful planning and consideration and sacrifice and intention. I always find myself stepping back at this stage and noticing the things that feel good and light and crucial in our lives right now. The fuel keeping this machine afloat. Some of the things that I’ve been extra grateful for lately are insignificant, some are more impactful than I realized. This list of seven inspired by a past C+C episode is ridiculously random, but I don’t want to forget the rhythms and routines blessing my marriage, my motherhood and our home right this minute.

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Driveway Picnic.

New neighbors moved in right when the days started stretching out again and it’s been one of the sweetest gifts for our kids. About two or three times a week depending on the weather, typically on Thursday if they’ve finished up their work early enough or on the weekend, the kids will play outside for hours with friends and have a collective meal sitting in the middle of our driveway. I’ll send out bowls of pasta or paper plates stacked with salad and quesadillas or our favorite melamine sets piled high with slices of pizza and all the kids run home to grab dinners of their own. Everyone meets back in our driveway to keep the laughter and the silliness flowing while O and I just enjoy the sun shining on our own quiet dinner table inside. I dreamed of days like this—neighbors like this—and it’s a little heartbreaking to already be longing for it knowing we’re leaving so soon. Thankfully, our neighbors at the new house are just as wonderful and we’ve had three years of their kindness (and children’s parties) during this build to reassure us of that.

Even if you aren’t close with your neighbors, we used to do driveway picnic as a family and will still do it in the summertime. If you have a lovely sitting area outside, driveway picnic might sound dumb and unnecessary. Maybe it is. But for a family that eats together at the dinner table just about every night, it feels—and I can’t explain why—like summer camp for all of us.