Home: Full Circle

 This past weekend, my sister and I spent some time reminiscing with our god-sister Lisa about a million childhood memories. We had lost touch with Lisa for about 30 years so you can imagine how much catching up there was to be done!

As I was driving home from our visit, I realized how most of those memories had taken place within the walls of various homes we lived in throughout the years - either Lisa's or ours. Whether we were playing dress up, selling lemonade from our front lawn (with Lisa doing Pantomime on the curb to get cars to stop), performing shows for our parents, or just mimicking Rod Stewart's 80's-style dancing while we watched his music video, we ALWAYS found ways to entertain ourselves "at home", even without many toys or video games around. 

Technology has definitely impacted the way our kids entertain themselves today but in the generations that followed my childhood, it seems that families have spent less time at home than we did. Perhaps we've just been busier with work, kids' sporting events, and activities outside the home.  My kids had very few birthday parties at home, for example; as we usually opted to go to some "play-place" ranging from Chuck E. Cheese to Laser Tag. Yet here we are today, with our society spending most of our time "at home" once again!

I'm the first one to point out the difficulties and challenges of being so home-bound this Covid/Pandemic season, so I don't mean to down play or even romanticize what our communities have been through this season. However, I do recognize, as much of the world does, that some good has come from spending more time together under one roof. 

I think of all of the home projects we've seen lately, and wonder if they might reflect a newfound desire to create better spaces for our families. Whether that means creating larger indoor play time spaces for our kids, fixing up our yards, or just buying new furniture such as dining room tables again (we bought one that seats 10 a few months ago!!), we've definitely witnessed a reallocation of more funds being spent on "home" lately!

If life ever "gets back to normal" and we begin to get out more, I'm hoping with my whole heart that we won't completely abandon the positive aspects of this season we've had. I can't help but yearn for a world where we spend less time on our devices or in front of computer screens, and instead spend more time playing, running around, finding ways to nurture our kids' creativity, talking to each other, cooking and even doing chores together. Who knows what the future could hold with this going-back-to-basics launching pad!

If any of these photos inspire you to make some changes before the Holidays or the New Year to come, give us a call!   - Michelle Norris