We are well into our Pajamathon tradition for this year. Pajamthon begins right after we get home from Christmas Eve mass, when we change into fuzzy lounging clothes, continues through Christmas Day (complete with presents and dinner), and ends...? Well, it may end a tad early this year, if only because I have to herd the boys into the car and drive up to the small town library just north of here to return a book that's long overdue. That was just one of the things that got away from me this fall.
There is a lot to be said for being at home, especially since, during a normal work week I'm not home that much. That's because we leave here at 7:15 am and often don't return until 6 pm or later... so during the school year much of my gardening and animal tending is done in the dark, either before the sun comes up or later in the evening. The law of unintended consequences operates at full force at these times, I find, such as when I flip the light on in the barn shop only to see a fat possum gorging itself on cat food. Then it looks up and hisses. Yuck!
Right now a weak afternoon sun is coming through bare trees, it rained most of the day so this is actually an improvement. The boys are spreading Legos in a nice, even layer over the entire living room floor, but that is preferable to me than having them play video games. (Actually, that is what we do best as a family: Cover the floor with small, sharp objects.)
I am so grateful for my family and my home. Every day I think about how fortunate we are to have each other, a home, space in the country (which I first purchased, in typical North Carolina fashion, as some land with a single wide house trailer on it). There is no glitz with this, no glamour associated with getting my sons to collect eggs with me, or pick the winter lettuce that I grow in a raised bed under an old storm window. Walking a dog can't compare with the constant siren call to "Party!" that emanates from every music video. As if, for some people, the gyrating, drinking and gold jewelry never end. In one sense they are right, it doesn't ever end, because when you live at the mercy of your emotions and the constant need for something new, you are never content. I hope and pray that my sons will imprint on something slower and more meaningful, that they will grow up to be parents who stage Pajamathons of their own. The Lord didn't say, chase after every new video game and designer purse. He said: Be still and know that I am God.
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