The rain from the looming thunderstorm began to hit against the dining room window.
The threat had finally arrived as my children almost huddled under my feet. The storm had teased us for several minutes with its rolling thunder and flashing skyscape.
And as the rain pounded against the glass, my kids began to tell me all their worries of the weather. Did we need to get in the closet? Was a tornado coming? Would the lights go out?
Pulling out coloring books and paint sets, I did what I could to distract them from the hovering rain storm. I figured we might as well do something creative as we wait for the storm to pass over.
My husband Jason was working late at the office, so it was up to me to entertain the three most nervous kids in Yazoo County.
Our youngest Jase was soon lost in his world of cardboard picture books and animal pop-up series. Vibrant colors and huge lion manes gleamed across his face as his grin reached from ear to ear.
That small two-year-old reminded me that sometimes you just need to pick up a good book. Take off to another world away from the thunder clouds and imposing forces. Find delight in the simple things and learn to appreciate the brightness of a sometimes gloomy world.
I left him alone with his giggles and smiles as he made friends with make-believe caterpillars and abstract polar bears.
Our daughter Elsie was sprawled out across some discarded newspapers, with an assortment of water colors, pastel charcoals, scented markers and broken crayons. She was creating a masterpiece across her white, blank sheet of paper.
She reminded me to color outside the lines, Take chances.
Who cares if most people would use plain colors? Mix them up and create something unique and all your own.
Go for the crooked lines. Ignore the straight ones. Have fun with things and be serious when you need to be.
I tickled her bare foot as she kicked it in the air while swirling another shade of purple across the leaves of her tree.
With a few thunderous claps, we were briefly reminded of the storm outside our house. But only for a second, as everyone soon returned to their projects.
Our oldest son James had his head low on our writing desk. I could see the eraser tip of a pencil speeding across his writing paper. He was make his own short story about monsters and fierce battles in dark forests.
He had about 40 lines continuing down the paper. And then...he just crumbled it up and threw it on the floor.
“Why did you get rid of that,” I asked, hesitant to pick up the balled up paper. “You had a lot there.”
Shrugging his shoulders, he let out a small grunt before immediately beginning another story on the next fresh piece of paper.
“I don’t care if I lose it,” he said, never looking up. “I’ll just make another one.”
I couldn’t help but grin with his response. Tugging his shoulder, I praised his writing skills and told him to keep at it.
James amazed me with his ability to keep creating. The wheels in his head were constantly moving with new ideas and challenging concepts.
So often, I gaze at a project or issue and wonder how to fix it and make it better. When sometimes, all you really need to do is crumble it up and start something new.
Much like a tiny paper airplane or the beginning of a monster story, if you don’t like the direction...throw it away. And create again.
The rain clouds slowly rolled over our house and made its way deeper into Yazoo County. And as the sun began to beam inside our windows again, the kids didn’t even notice.
Jase had moved on to a book about cars. Elsie was working on a princess watercolor. And James was already in chapter three of his debut novel.
There was no longer the roll of thunder. I didn’t bother to turn the television back on. I actually kept my phone on silent. And let their young minds create and explore.
Sometimes in the midst of noise and uncertainty, a healthy imagination can lead to great things.
I should take a lesson from my kids.
Explore new worlds, color outside the lines and lose the fear of not being perfect. You can always tear off a new sheet of paper and start again.
