circles
Lately, Adelaide has taken to being heavily involved in the direction of our evening meals. Everything from orchestrating who should get which napkin to whether we need forks or spoons; and then announcing "Dinner is ready!" at the top of her lungs (Oh! I need to get that girl a dinner bell).
We all sit down, hold each others hands, and she declares loudly and with confidence, "This is a circle!" We all laugh and move through our blessing and the semi-chaos that is our meal. But my mind and heart always linger at her statement of simple truth, and the awareness that yes, indeed we are a circle in both simple and profound ways. I carry that thought with me always.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Our youngest children sometimes enjoy a circle blessing before we eat and this can be a peaceful moment, but generally, meal times are chaotic, loud, messy and inconsistent. Most of the time I can see definite shades of 'feeding time at the zoo' and cleaning up afterwards strikes me as a job for an industrial strength hose down. Mealtimes can indeed be a sacred space to join in togetherness, but in reality we are often dealing an entirely different scene. Real life just isn't that tidy.
Parenting for us has been about learning to take the rough with the smooth, the rough being those times when it's a mess and a stress and the smooth being those times when we experience bliss and an uplifted feeling.
We can be inspired by glowing examples of the smooth, but it is important to embrace the less 'presentable' aspects of family life too, otherwise the danger is that we feel we fall short of our kids for not appearing to be smooth all the time.
Posted by: EF x | March 22, 2008 at 09:58 AM
That is just precious. Our little girls are the same age and every night before bed she prays "tant toow mama, daddy, nana, papa, MEN". I hope I remember it forever!
Posted by: Samantha | March 22, 2008 at 10:33 AM
This post is a nice example of how kids want a little bit of control and this is a nice way to give it to them! Love the circle!
Posted by: Kristen | March 22, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Aww! How cute! "From the mouths of babes..."
Happy Easter!
Posted by: kristena | March 22, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Such simple truth indeed. It makes me think of how grateful I am for my own little "circle". Oh and I'd love to know some Soule family family favorite recipes at your sweet dinner table. Sometmes a fresh set of ideas can liven up the boring "go to" meals we've been doing forever.
Happy Easter!
Posted by: Emily | March 22, 2008 at 01:29 PM
I enjoy this blog so much, your family and your home too that I've just pre-ordered your Creative Family book, how could I possibly allow such an opportunity to pass me by? :)
Posted by: Carol | March 22, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Prayers in circles, holding hands.....it's best that way.
Easter JOY!
Jody
Posted by: Gumbo Lily | March 22, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Such a tender post and photo! It brought me tears of joy and smiles. Our little 16 month angel girl has also taken the lead at all family meals to connect hands and made that fabulous family circle. Then she sings la, la, la while we sing our blessings of thanks. Your blog is a constant source of inspiration to me. Thank you for caring about the imaginations of our children. We can't wait to read your book. Congrats!
Posted by: Valentinamamma | March 23, 2008 at 09:03 AM
just today we watched a home-video of my now ten-year-old daughter dancing completely naked, uninhibitted, golden curls bouncing through our first home. i was truck profoundly by the fact that I WILL NEVER HAVE THAT MOMENT AGAIN. it made me almost fill with desperation to grab each of my babies and commit them, every fiber of them to my memory. it is so important to cherish these things, thank you for reminding us.
p.s. my daughter still dances... she's on her way to toe-shoes. perhaps adelaide will always inspire you at mealtime?
Posted by: liza | March 23, 2008 at 09:09 PM
indeed, we are all a 'circle'. out of the mouths of babes...
Posted by: shelley caskey | March 23, 2008 at 11:53 PM
My girl- also with an A name (and it seems, a similar tenacious personality) reminds me of the circles all the time (I just posted about it in my own blog a few weeks ago)- so funny! And I loved your easter conundrum (we had the same kind of issue here- though it wasn't pants, but peeps (fortunately I didn't have to spend all my time making my little ones' anticipation of tradition, and instead focused on finding the baskets (I found them- yea!!!) Wish I could make pants like that though.
Happy Spring!
Posted by: lauren | March 24, 2008 at 11:05 PM
i was with my circle of friends saturday night, so this really resonates with me. brightest Equinox and Eostre celebrations to all who mark them.
Posted by: cate | March 25, 2008 at 07:11 AM
Beautifully put... I just love the way you live... and share... and inspire!
Thank You
Posted by: Robin | March 26, 2008 at 03:20 AM
I read this post when you posted it, but I wanted to be sure I understood the right meaning… I'm french.
I remember a similar situation when, last month, after a week separated (I was away for work, my husband and first son together for a father-son trip, and my little one stayed by my parents), as we 4 met again, my second son said us, full of happiness : «this is "we"»…
Posted by: sissi minanaä | March 26, 2008 at 09:36 AM