Together We Are..

We humans are a strange lot. We seek some time to ourselves and as soon as this wish is fulfilled, we again look for some human contact, sweet and kind words, soft touch and togetherness. Overall, neither do we want to stay alone altogether, nor do we welcome company at all times. But for a family, spending some time together, relaxing, chatting and laughing is not only a most desirable idea, it is also a necessary exercise in building up certain bases in kids.

I have mentioned many times how I spent most of my winter days in the lawn, enjoying the warmth of bright sunshine, sitting in a bean bag, with a cup of tea and some craft, while Coco played nearby, running, cycling, jumping etc. Sometimes, in the middle of it all he would come to me and ask 'Where is Papa?' in his sweet baby voice. Now, his father has a busy work schedule, and more often than not, Coco is not even up when he leaves for work. So answering this question becomes even more difficult for me. Though I try to keep the answer a straightforward 'He went to office,' which may cause a further request of a bike ride or so.

So, when his father was free for almost a week this winter, I was hugely relieved and all we did was spend nearly all of our daytime together in the lawn, including having our daytime meals there itself. On weekdays, lawn chairs would be placed in the lawn and the guys would hit their spot as soon as sunlight fell on them. While his father would mostly be updating himself with latest news or would be reading a thick book for his upcoming exams, I took out 'Gone With The Wind' from my dog eared books collection and set out to re-read it. The first time I read it was almost 6 years ago, and reading it again was a huge dose of sheer pleasure, that too, sitting together with family in warm sunshine, interspersed with random chit-chat and hot cups of tea. This time I was reading and ruminating over every single sentence, like one would steep a tea bag a wee bit longer to get maximum flavor. And, to say the least, re-visiting this book was like I was meeting an old friend, long lost in childhood.

They say that charity begins at home. Yes, it all begins at home indeed. Coco, who would always treat his books like toys, brought a book out on this particular day, when he saw both his parents immersed in reading, pulled out his little red chair and promptly placed it between ours and sat and actually read his book. It was a joy to see him reading, and the parents immediately took a break to click his studious stance. 

Sometimes, Coco would just want to play in the grass and we utilized this opportunity to pull out the weeds growing on the floor, killing the grass. We would pull out fists full of this clover like weed and Coco would enjoy tossing it in the air, spreading it all across in the garden, on chairs, on my clothes and his dad's, in his hair.. 

Then he would grow tired and would look for a new game. By then his father would also be in need of a break, so they both would decide to play catch, with no rules and regulations whatsoever, and Coco would come and catch me who would be reading, instead of his dad calling out to him.

In between, we used to have our breakfasts and lunches, setting up table in the lawn itself, inviting friends over on weekends, to extend this togetherness to more people and make it merrier and most importantly to create memories of happy times.

 Spending entire days like this, out on the lawn in sunshine, was indeed a treat for us this winter. Especially so in an army household, where such peaceful and relaxed times are a luxury.

Written as a post for the prompt 'Together'  for https://housing.com/ins://