Rainy Days

My memories of rainy days as a kid are of being curled up on my bed with the radio on and a good book in my hands.

It's raining today and the kids are home from school because the teachers are on strike. There's that lovely clunking sound on the roof from the bigger drops falling from the trees and the steady hush of the gentle rain. There's that cool, crisp stillness in the air too. It's a perfect autumn rainy day.

The kids have spent an hour or so in front of the TV and they're just cranking up the Wii in the lounge room now. I know that later in the day we have some jobs, music practice and homework to tackle, but it's just such a perfect day at the moment.

Sometimes I wish I could just hold onto a moment like this forever. I know it won't be all that long before the kids are at home a lot less and even move out. This is a magical time in family life and I really wish it could last and last. But, one thing I've learnt as a mother is that if life is good now, it only gets better as they get older and more independent.

For while the kids have been lazing around, I've put on a load of washing, started some baking, made breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen. I'm just about to go up and tidy the bedrooms and bathroom and sort out some washing. The nice thing about the kids growing up, is that when the next autumn day like this comes around, they might do one or two of these jobs themselves or not even be living at home at all.

Families growing up is good, not bad, and that's what we have memories and photos for - to remember the good times in the past, during the good times in the future.