Temperatures are beginning to drop. Breezes wisp through leaves that will soon be falling. Apples are plopping on the ground. This is my favorite time of year.
While the rest of the world is gearing up for more activities, I find myself wanting to sit back and enjoy the season. It’s an inner struggle for me. I’m ready to go – apple picking, pumpkin picking, leaf observing. And yet, I want to savor and enjoy the experiences.
The slight winds caress my face as I watch my children play on a lovely afternoon. They revel in the day, dressed in their mismatched combinations of short sleeves and long sleeves, shorts and pants. We sip apple cider after playing and spend hours in the kitchen making applesauce, baked apples, and apple pies. The house smells like cinnamon apples and welcomes us to stay rather than going out. Soon it will switch to pumpkin.
Our regular activities are picking up in frequency again and we pull the reins before we join an out of control schedule. We apologetically say no to play dates or programs that we would enjoy. We can’t do everything and we must choose. There is always a choice to be made. Luckily, we are in the position to choose what we want to do. So we make certain there are free days and home days for us to enjoy the weather, the season, the life that exists whether or not we choose to pay attention to it. We make memories and traditions which my children will remember. We find our balance, walking down a wooden fence, licking drops of apple juice from our lips when we bite into a crisp apple on a cool day, and kissing soft cheeks of children whose arms sneaking around us, hugging us tightly, as we hold onto them for the time we are given.
living peacefully with children 
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