it's just a lamp

Almost everybody who discovers that I let my kids (and their cousins) play two-square and kick ball in my front room thinks I'm nuts.

They point out the obvious. Something could get broken. A frame could get knocked off the wall. A lamp could get tipped over. A light bulb could break in the chandelier. Some thing will get ruined.

Don't get me wrong. I like my things. I wouldn't have them if I didn't like them.

But they're just things.

When these kids are all grown up they probably won't remember what lamps I had in my front room while they were young, but they'll likely remember that their mother/aunt let them have fun in any room they happened to be playing in.

Today, my lamp broke.

Nobody was playing kickball or two-square. It was knocked over by a wayward swivel chair. Nobody was spinning on it or anything. It just swiveled a bit to far . . .bumped the lamp . . .and the shade shattered as it hit the floor.

I really liked that lamp.

but it's just a lamp. . . .