Go Fly a Kite!

Yesterday, we had weather in Santa Barbara.

And by "weather, " I mean wind.

At approximately 7:45am, Wombles looked out the window, saw the trees a-bending, and shrieked, "It's WINDY! Can I have my kite? Will you hand me my kite so I can go fly it?"

For a moment, I paused. I think two things were passing through my mind: first, it wasn't yet eight o'clock in the morning. Generally we have a no-playing-in-the-yard -prior-to-8:00am rule in our house. On the weekends, it's bumped back to nine. Why? We're loud. LOUD.

Second, Wombles doesn't have a kite. It's actually an artistic piece he did last week, experimenting with different textures. You know. Pencil, ink stamp, stickers, tape, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, and green rick-rack. A loooong piece of green rick-rack.

Then someone came over, saw it on display, and asked him about his kite. At which moment he decided it was a kite. I felt he'd betrayed his inner artist for the sake of mass consumption, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, the night before last I read a piece about making moments special which my brother's wife shared with me. And so I decided to throw out the rules and let him go.

It was amazing.


Almost immediately, Bud finished his math and Pixie wrapped up piano practice. They made their own kites and joined Wombles (by kites I mean they each had a piece of card stock and taped some kite string to it). Pixie grabbed some markers and threw a rose onto hers before heading out the door. Bud spent nearly half an hour with colored pencils carefully covering his.

Repairing some damage

They ran. There was much wind and much glee. Later we made a weather vane and figured out where the wind was coming from. It was a beautiful Santa Barbara day, and I was so grateful to get to share it with them; there was this wonderful sense of this moment will live with us for as long as we live-ness. What a privilege it was to hang out with them and let Nutmeg crawl around on the grass. Their laughter was good for my soul.



And this captured a sweet brother-moment early on--before Bud or Pixie made their own kites--:




May you have eyes to see your opportunities for gratitude and joy today!