When I received this message in my inbox from my friend Sarah , I knew it was perfect for this week’s Living Simply Saturdays post. She agreed to share her story, so here’s Sarah (with a little editing for explanation and anonymity)!
Last Saturday Darren and I went to Kansas City alone (minus two active young boys) to help my sister and her new husband clean and paint their new home. (Yes, they bought a house the same week they got married. Silly kids.)Anyway, we left at 6:30 am and got back at 11 pm. The boys stayed with Papa and Gaga. (Amy here: Sarah is incredibly blessed to live in the same small town that her parents live in. Her mom is her babysitter while she teaches part-time. How about that for an awesome set up!) Mom told me that my 5 year old said this at the end of the day:“Gaga, next time we spend the whole day with you, I want to have another day JUST like this. Promise?”I had to ask him the next day what they did. Here is what he rattled off in the most excited tone: “We watched Thomas and the Magic Railroad, we played in the leaves and raked (with their own plastic sets of garden tools), we went on a wagon ride (Mom’s childhood wagon) ALL OVER TOWN with Papa, we ate Mac N Cheese, we played Star Wars, we farmed, we played football in the backyard, we ate pizza, we watched a Halloween cartoon that Gaga taped…” I think that was about it.Later, mom and I had a discussion about how they never left town and didn’t spend a dime (ok, I think they ordered from the local pizza place), yet my boy seemed to think it was the best day ever. We were talking about how people think you have to go somewhere and/or spend $$ to entertain the kids…totally thought of you!
Thanks for sharing, Sarah! What a beautiful, simple day her boys had with their grandparents! Kids are not born to want all of the latest gizmos and gadgets; we adults teach them that! They don’t naturally want to go out and spend money to eat junk and be entertained; they are born to entertain themselves (and us)! Children are masters of simplicity, and they excel in the Finer Things. We would do well to follow their lead.
Visit Keeper of the Home for more simple living tips.
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This is a great post — what a timely reminder! I, also, am blessed to have my parents in the same small town with me, and it is my children’s greatest joy to spend the day or afternoon with them. And what do they do with Oma and Opa? They help Oma do whatever she’s doing in her vegetable garden, they pick some raspberries from Opa’s vines, they get a bunch of stories read to them, they make pretend mail from the paper and ‘free’ envelopes (the return kind that come in junk mail) my dad collects for them, and — best of all joys — this Monday, my mom is going to help my 8 y.o. daughter actually DYE SOME PIECES OF SHEETING WITH RIT DYE. She is so excited she can’t stand it. And, as you say, it’s … free. Okay, I think Mom spent 50 cents for the dye packages on sale in the ’70s! It’s the time spent, not the money spent. Love your blog, kristin
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