Family Bliss

Last night we had dinner as usual. Then we moved into the family room for our regular family devotions. Abbie played Holy, Holy, Holy for us on the piano. It was beautiful. She is going to play it in a recital next week. Then the kids dispersed after prayer to squeeze the last possible moments of play out of the day. Iain contemplated going back into work. I contemplated getting up to do the dishes.

Instead, I lay down on the couch with my head in Iain's lap. We visited. Iain picked up a magazine. I relaxed. The kids began to circle, playing a little closer and then a little closer to where we sat on the couch. They remained in their own imaginative worlds, but they also seemed very aware of staying close to us in the living room. Eventually, Abbie squeezed on the couch with us and picked up her Clubhouse magazine. Iain picked up our latest subscription to Food and Wine. I stayed put, and left the dishes. Slowly but surely, all six of us were on the couch in a matter of a few minutes. We tickled, we laughed, we snuggled, we talked about nothingness. To me it was blissful.

I think we would have stayed there all night if we could have. I love that the kids like to be around us, often times doing their own things, but close to us. There is something sweet about just hanging out as a family. It is safe, it is familiar, it is loving, it is comforting. I am slightly embarassed to admit it, but I still feel this way when I go home to visit my parents. I just like to hang around them. When my mom is getting ready in the mornings, I find myself kind of waiting for her to be done so we can just hang out. I like to sit at the counter and watch her in the kitchen. I will wander into her office while she pays bills, just to say "watcha doin?" I like to sit with my dad next to the pool and watch him smoke his pipe. Even if there is not much to say, I just like to sit with him. It is familiar. It is home. It is what I see our kids doing as they seek us out for no other reason than to just say "watcha doin?" :)