Defining Seasons

I was pushing the boys on the swings under the maple tree in our back yard,

when I looked up and thought back to the day it was planted . . .

about twenty-five years ago.



If trees could talk!

The sapling that it was, I probably could have enfolded it’s trunk with one hand.

I remember getting a funny look from the gardener

when I cautioned him not to go too close to the wash line.

Do you see it there? The top of the pole just shows up at the bottom of the photo.

 I wonder the funny look I would have given

had someone told me that my grandchildren

would be swinging from that tree one day.

Eight of them!

 

This week we are back to feeling like parents

as three of them have been entrusted to our care.

 The days begin earlier than usual.

By the time I have them dressed, fed and buckled into their car seats 

I feel like I have surely earned some kind of an award!

Natalie gets dropped off in front of her Grade one class

and the boys come back home with me.

 

I've had to smile at how two boys energize each other.

The greatest discovery has been the fact that

they can use the garage as a hockey rink..

 

They change their names to reflect two other brothers on their favourite team

 and off they go!

  

Another thing that caught me by surprise was how an old baby toy

suddenly became a sword and shield! Who would have known?

And as for the favoured highway for little vehicles . . .

I’ve come to convince myself that those fine lines on the black coffee table

look quite okay on there. It’s the look . . . 
not unlike the smile lines on a Grammy's face.

By the time the sun sets, I feel like an old tree that is more used to days in the

shade . . . than the young sapling mom I used to be.

The best time of the day is when I get to dig into the warm water

in the kitchen sink . . .

and Papa takes them all outside to run off some steam

before baths and bedtime stories.