Retractable gates and joy
It’s been just over a week in our new (to us) but old house. We have replaced the carpet, the water heater, a whole house water pressure valve, the dryer vent, 8 massive trees, and years worth of dirt. We also renovated the upstairs to add a new attic access door, a new bedroom, and ceiling fans/lights in every bedroom. Out of all the household improvements we’ve done my favorite is a little retractable gate we added to our deck just above the stairs.
It is conveniently placed just before several different sets of stairs and keeps the kids totally contained in the upper portion of our deck (that needs to be replaced someday) and is right next to a water spigot.
Do you remember how fun playing with water was as a kid? I used to get in trouble with my mom all the time for getting cups of water and carrying them secretly to our playroom to mix and “cook” or just spill it all. Water is one of my kids favorite toys so having the spigot and the gate has been perfect.
We wait until the sun goes just over the top of our house and shades the deck, then I just let them go.
The joy (and laundry) that comes from a few minutes of water spigot time is massive. As I watch my kids repeatedly drench themselves and giggle contagiously I wonder, what do I do that gives me this much joy? Before I was a parent I would have a ton of answers readily available but now as a mom so much of my joy is naturally interwoven with my kids joy.
I think if I could pin point one answer it would be that I find joy in the small things. Like a warm sip of coffee before my day starts. Or five minutes of sitting still while my kids are elated with water. And don’t forget those precious snuggles. Or something as simple as my 90 year old Grandpa seeing our new house for the first time and telling me how proud he is before sitting down to read my kids a princess story.
As an adult and as a parent it’s those tiny moments that are fleeting and precious I’ve come to find the most joy in. You know they are only there for a short moment and when they are gone you still feel that radiating happiness and gratitude they have left behind.
So something small like a simple retractable gate that allows my kids to have endless hours of fun has been totally worth it. I never thought I would say that a retractable outdoor gate has somehow led me to have more joy in my life, but alas it has.
If you want your own retractable gate of joy, here’s the link.
