Staying at Home

I always planned to be a "stay-at-home-mom" but have only recently begun coming to terms with idea of actually remaining in the house. I always imagined all sorts of fun activities that we would do together...classes, playgroups and exciting outings. What I didn't anticipate is that I would actually be the one who wanted to get out and do things while my child would usually prefer to stay home.

Of course she usually has fun on our various excursions she has lately begun saying she wants to to stay home instead. Instead of the museum? Instead of La Leche meetings? Instead of simply taking a nice walk outside? Instead of seeing your friends? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Hmmmm.

So I have begun to make the most of our days indoors. I imagine the warmer weather will at least bring more desire to play in the yard but while the cold keeps us cooped up inside I am doing my best to enjoy myself. I am also trying to embrace my new life in the suburbs. Today we took a walk and rather than wish we were back in the city I began to savor the scenery and solitude.

There's a lot to do around here. We can walk to the barn to see the horse or to see the train go through the marsh. We can hike the path in the woods out to the marsh or walk to the river. In Boston we'd be walking to the Library or Starbucks. Not bad places and it was nice to be able to walk to them. But there is something to be said for stopping on our walks to try and find a noisy woodpecker hiding in the trees and for not seeing another person the whole time we are out.