Size Doesn't Matter

I never knew how often lately I would coax Iris to bed by telling her she needed to "get some rest because we've got a big day tomorrow" (with early mornings at VBS, church, visits with grandparents, trips to the zoo...) until one night a few nights ago she told me, as I was tucking her in, she wanted to "have a small day tomorrow."

And it got me wondering, why do our days need to be so big in the first place?  Just reading stories under blanket-tents in the living room and eating watermelon for dessert is momentous for my little girl.

If I don't take the kids to the park or the zoo on a sunny day, am I wasting the beautiful weather?  If I sit at home and enjoy my children, am I not accomplishing anything? 

Speaking of not accomplishing anything, I sometimes feel guilty when the sink is piled high with dirty dishes and the to-be-washed laundry outnumbers the clean clothes in our drawers.  I don't work outside the home, so these things should be high on my to-do list, right?  And I guess a lot of the time the reason why I want to get out of the house and have activities lined up, when I plan "big days",  it's simply so I can escape those menial tasks.

Usually when I make my ultimate goal for the day getting the house in order, I have little patience for my children.  Those are always the days that Asher won't nap and Iris is feeling exceptionally bonkers.  But I enjoy big days.  I can get out of the house, see the outside world and feel like I am a part of it.  Sometimes we have to have big days- I don't plan them, they just have to happen.  But when I plan the big days, of course I plan them for my family, but it's MY plan.

I know Iris likes getting out and visiting people and seeing the sights and learning new things.  Big things.  But I sometimes lose sight of the fact that she is still so young, and it doesn't take much to make a day big in her world.  Every day is an adventure, and most days that adventure doesn't have to leave our backyard.  Literally.

So these past few days have been small.  We haven't left the house much except to go to the grocery store.  The dishes have gotten washed, meals have gotten cooked, clothes have been washed and folded (and even put away!) but none of it has really been a conscious effort.  They have just been woven around playing outside with the hose, watching movies, and staying up late to catch lightening bugs.  They haven't been big days at all, but they have been momentous.