A friend lamented that she was “all out of Joy,” a scented oil.  I hear you, sister.  Me, too.  Something about 24/7 kids, election, and rain makes me want to breathe in some lavender and insist on Sustained Silent Reading (which Sashi thinks is called Reading My Book Out Loud Because It’s So Interesting).  I even got the 18-month old new board books, so he could be quiet for three and a half minutes.  After I folded laundry and changed clothes, I decided I needed to write.  To create something instead of endlessly consuming as a way to deal with stress.

How do you deal with frustration on a rainy day?  When you’re all out Joy?

We turn to music, movement, art, and movies.  Sashi plays the five songs she knows on the piano or I put on inspiring tunes like the song “Eye of the Storm” or anything by Michael Franti or Bob Marley.  The baby starts to dance and seeing him swaying always makes me smile.  Our new thing is timing everything, so we time how long Sashi can hoola hoop (a looong time!).  Some of us put on Ninja Turtle vests and swords, and we play fight.  I try to stay present to the kids, which looks like surrendering to the moment and playing what they want to play.  I draw with them or build a castle or make a fort.  Or we play Chutes and Ladders (the older kids play and I entertain the baby).  Or I narrate what they’re doing and ask a few questions here and there.  We go over our Dr. Seuss alphabet cards.  Mostly, we just play together, especially in our art area.  Show me any kid store and I’ll show you 75% of their craft projects.  We color and then color some more.  Sashi loves making cards for people.  Big Guy’s projects usually revolve around scissors and construction paper.  The baby and I play a game called who can get to the wall faster.  If I win, the wall stays white.  He also likes to color on pictures the other two children are working on.  He thinks he can really help them with the finishes touches.  He moves like a whirling dervish, so it’s really a question of how long I can chase him before I bring in The Baba or The Ded so I can nap for fifteen minutes.

And if all else fails, there’s always Zootopia!   I like listening to the kids act out the movie, pretending to be various animals.  And I enjoy the clever lines recited by a four- and six-year old, with the baby watching in amusement.  We also enjoy Babe while rocking in our rocking chairs in the den (Sasha half watching, half knitting her pink scarf). PBS Kids shows help us figure out mysteries and teach us about different creatures.  And let’s not forget the classics: Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.  And the Kung Fu Panda movies (not a coincidence, the amount of dumplings we’ve been eating).  By the time we’ve danced, played, colored, read, and watched a movie, you’d think we spanned four hundred years.  All in a day’s work!  And it’s joyous to be done!  One rainy day at a time.

Press on, Mom!