Manry Family

Michigan winters require a person to have a certain amount of creativity to overcome the cabin fever that typically sets in this time of year.  It has been three months since our lawn has been snow-free, and the colder-than-usual temperatures this year have kept us and our children bottled up for what seems like much more than a season.  Thankfully, our children know how to improvise.

Recently, at Luke and Connor's request, we set up the tent we bought our boys for Christmas in the den downstairs.  Tents, of course, are meant to be pitched outdoors where they are a shelter from the elements.  But as our boys have shown us, tents are quite useful indoors where their walls, instead of sheltering, function as catalystsfor young imaginations.  Luke and Connor have "camped out" for almost a week now, opting to sleep each night in their nest of assorted pillows and quilts in the tent instead of the standard mattress and comforter in their bedroom.  Those of you acquainted with my passion for the outdoors and love of sleeping on the ground and in the woods, will know that I whole-heartedly approve of their new indoor sleeping arrangement.  OK, I am actually very proud.  I know they'd rather be running through the grass, but they found a way to play outdoors indoors.

People have been asking how we will help our kids adjust when they move to Africa; I think they'll be the ones helping us adjust.