Skip to main content

The WORLD in BOXES

I didn't expect tears,
and I didn't expect him to put his hands in front of mine to stop the tape.
At first he thought it was a game, as I took books off the shelf, so did he
He giggled as he did it, making his floor a library instead of the shelf. It was cute.
But now, now he dives into the boxes,
pulling out the things I've placed inside
and gazing at me through tearstained eyes, confused.
It didn't hit me til today, after days and days of this placing and packaging
that I'm placing his whole world into boxes.
These little walls, these four rooms. It's here we gave him a tour after he came home from the hospital, showing him each and every corner of our little home.
Daddy and me weeping and laughing because we'd never lived our life with three before,
and the joy spilled over.
We walked and talked through every room,
We were introducing him to life in a duplex, life in our home, our sanctuary.
For his 15 months, this has been his place
and I'm a little sorrowful now that we started to change it all upside down
without telling him why, first,
and without giving him--yes, him, my toddler--time to say goodbye to life as it has been.
I should have let him crawl through the rooms and touch the bookshelves and the tables and the toys in the places he knows they belong, remembering how they look,
soaking in his first home.
I did the same myself before each move as a child, few as they were
remembering life as it had been
and saying goodbye with gratitude to life as I knew it in that house,
preparing for a new place
bracing for change.
I know now that my home is where my family is
(so home is a great many places, now)
but he doesn't know yet,
so I regret, a little
placing his world
in boxes.



Day #301

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Wright Kind of Family

Today's blog post is a question, a question for YOU, the reader.  No, I don't mean somebody else in the blogosphere.  You there, reading this, right now. What makes for a happy childhood?  How can I raise the "Wright" kind of family? During my brief visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., what amazed me more than all the aircraft and space gear and aerodynamic science combined was the following quote by Katharine Wright, younger sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright: Additionally, Wilbur stated: WHAT A STATEMENT. What a tribute to their parents and to the family culture fostered in their home. My interest and desire to know more about their homelife is piqued, so I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to buy this book on Amazon tomorrow so that I can learn more:  What I want to know is how to grow a family where the kids rush home because home is the place to be! I want to know how to host an environment that suppo...

The Problem with Chick Flicks.

I really, really, really enjoy a select few movies that I willingly watch over and over again. Pride and Prejudice is one of them. You see, Elizabeth's defense of her family, her sense of self respect, her ability to admit that she was wrong and to appreciate Darcy despite all his quirks, and quizzical brow-ness... it's marvelous. My husband doesn't share the sentiment, could you tell? ... and that's okay. There's rare a chick flick I enjoy near as much as I enjoy Pride and Prejudice or A Walk To Remember , and I wanted to explain why. You see, there's more than just a few problems with (many, not all) chick flicks:  (and if you have a chick flick that escapes many of these pitfalls then please oh please leave it's title in the comment section!) The heroine (or suitor) is less than honorable. I have a hard time rooting for a girl to get a gentleman when she's spending her time being scandalously loose with other men ( #thenotebook) . An...

5 Children's Books You Really Oughta Read

I love reading almost as much as I love writing. And I love writing almost as much as I love reading. Depends on the day. One never truly trumps the other. Gotta have both. These are 5 children's books I've read within the past 2 years that gave me that turn-page feeling, that friends-with-the-characters feeling, that weepy-when-it's-over-feeling. I dare you to read one and I triple-dog-dare you to leave a comment below telling me a story that's given YOU them sort of feelings. #5-- Flotsam  by David Wiesner. If you're not much of a reader (or for your loved ones who can't read at all!) check this one out. It's a whimsical wordless picture book that entertains your curiosities of what truly lies at the bottom of the sea while simultaneously indulges hopes of finding something truly awesome washed up on the shores of a summer destination spot. #4-- Echo  by Pam Muñoz Ryan. With three main characters, three plot lines from WWII era, music liter...