Many people are feeling the push to move forward and keep busy. This is a common topic when consulting with clients, but it completely surprised me when my kids started talking about it.
Over summer holidays its very common for parents to look for projects and camps to keep their children busy. I myself have done this for years. This spring while planning for the summer holiday, throwing out names of different towns and cities to visit, I was thrown off by the response – my kids asked if it was okay to stay home.
Then, in their wisdom of twelve and thirteen years, they told me in a quiet, knowing way, “It would be really nice to stay home and enjoy what we have here.”
Wow. Did that ever set me back.
Stay home for summer holidays? I was actually speechless. I took my maps and lists and saved computer pages and left the room. Sitting at my desk in complete bewilderment I wondered if they felt pushed by life like so many of my clients.
It turns out, that is exactly how they felt. So this year, we tried things differently. We went away for a short trip and then planned to stay home for the rest of the summer. For the first time in their lives the kids are home to watch the thunderstorms in the backyard and the raccoon babies that come to feed on the peanuts left for the birds. We are watching the summer movies in our local theatre, going for ice cream in the evenings and riding bikes at sunset.
I have to say, the kids have it right. So far, this has been one of the best summers ever and we didn’t do a lot. We just let life be and committed to being present for it.
