A random thing to do with the family

It was one of those afternoons where everyone was just sort of existing in the same space. No one had any grand plans, and that was perfectly fine. We were all just a bit adrift, waiting for something to happen without trying to make it happen.

Spinning the wheel

I’d made this list of simple things a while back, just for moments like this. It was on my phone, a note with a bunch of ideas. I pulled it up and handed the phone to my youngest.They scrolled for a second, then stopped. They didn’t announce it or make a big deal. They just read it out, their voice quiet in the room. It was something so simple, so obvious, that we all just sort of paused.

The quiet agreement

No one objected. No one suggested something better. There was a collective shrug, the kind that means ‘sure, why not.’ It was the easiest decision we’d made all day.We got up, almost in unison, and started gathering what we needed. It wasn’t exciting, but it was a direction. A gentle nudge out of the stillness.

Leaning in to see

As we started, I found myself leaning a little closer, watching the small changes. It wasn’t about the outcome being perfect or even good. It was just about the doing of it, the slight shift in the air.

The space it created

The activity didn’t fill the silence so much as it gave it a shape. We were together, but we weren’t trying to entertain each other. We were just following the same quiet thread for a little while.