sitting on the carpet

Some nights the best thing I can do is just sit down on the carpet.  At least for our family, that simple act can lower the intensity level in the house.  I'm not busy, I'm not "somewhere", I'm sitting.  Right in the middle of the living room.

Tonight I was feeling the exhaustion of a long stretch of Matt on the road (he'll be back late tomorrow - yay!)  and I really *needed* a smooth evening transition.  So I sat down.  And they all gathered, and created a car city with Jenga blocks and a deck of playing cards.

Things started to expand and Lydia nominated herself the car salesman.  She also sold gas (dispensed underneath the foot stool).  Her cars were inexpensive but she was charging a lot for fuel :)

My favorite moment was probably when Luke pulled out the binoculars.  Wonder what he saw.  

I did buy a car, which quickly got sent to the shop (Julianna's domain) for tire repair.  But other than that I mostly just sat.  And watched.  And took a few pictures!

I'm almost positive that if I had chosen to finish dinner clean up (I still haven't swept the floor) or ready the house for night or any other such thing that the play would't have gone so well or so long.

There's something about Mommy sitting quietly on the carpet nearby that calms the whole house.  It's good for me to remember, because I'm not much of a sitter :)  But I'm working on it!