For the fifth year in a row, our little family decided to grow a summer garden. While I wish I could say we grow our seedlings from scratch, we always tend to take the easy way out and buy them once they’re already sprouted. Sure, it’s technically cheating a little, but there’s less of a chance that my black thumb will devastate them that way. Plus, it gives us a chance to visit our local feed and seed store. It’s not much to look at and it’s tinier than a breadbox, but the little shop has meant a lot to us over the past few years. It’s where I’ve gone every spring and autumn to get seasonal flowers for my kitchen flower box. It’s where we got our organic dog food after we discovered our beloved pup had severe allergies. It’s also where we’ve browsed the tiny farm animals and dreamed about having a few of our own one day.

This past weekend, we took the kids down there to pick out our plants. We’re growing a modest garden on a tiny plot near the left side of our property. We were only there to pick out the healthiest looking squash, tomato, zucchini and cucumber plants but we quickly got sidetracked. At the back of the shop is a little area where you can buy newly hatched chicks, mice, parakeets, rabbits and more. Three out of four of us love to go back there and browse, but my daughter always plugs her nose and walks into the other room. We were just about to follow her and head outside when I noticed a velvet pouch in a cage, moving slowly but methodically up and down. I nudged my husband and said, “I think that pouch is moving.” We inched closer and confirmed our suspicions.

An attendant noticed our interest and excitedly came over to the cage. Then, she reached in and carefully opened the pouch. A dozen gorgeous little creatures came scurrying out, each finding his place on the metal ledges. She explained they were sugar gliders, and they were some of the most interesting creatures you’ll find. When a female becomes pregnant, a tiny egg no bigger than a grain of rice will travel up her belly, and into a pouch. It will stay there and the baby will grow. Sometimes, you won’t even notice they’re expecting until you see a tail or a tiny arm sticking out of the pouch.

She cooed at them for a while, then declared it was time for the grand finale. They all lined up along the edge of the cage, then hopped happily back in their pouch. I casually inquired why they all choose to spend their day cooped up in a pouch and her reply stunned me. “It’s what they know,” she said. “They grew up in a pouch and it’s where they’re the most comfortable.”

Since becoming a parent, I’ve found myself sticking closely to the familiar as well. I love slow and simple days at home, much like the ones my own mother cultivated and created for me when I was younger. I find myself falling into a routine of school, lunch, playtime, and dinner far too often than I’d like. I decided to make the transition to working from home when my firstborn was still a few months old. I’d done my research and believed it to be the wisest and most affordable option for our family. Yet, that meant even more time at home and over time, I fell into a bit of a rut.

I like to think that I’m providing my children with the safe and sturdy foundation they need to explore out on their own. However, I’d like to inject just a little more exploration into our days and as the summer sun begins to rise in our part of the country, I think this might be the season that we break out of our shell a little. Maybe I’ll take a poetry class, or my daughter might take up soccer. My husband has always wanted to learn how to code. Maybe this will be the year he takes that course.

Pushing ourselves is a good thing, especially when it’s done in manageable doses. Yet, I know that no matter how brave I get, there will always be a part of me that wants to crawl back into my veritable pouch. I’ll always crave a long bath and a magazine at the end of the day, and I’ll always pour my coffee in the same mug before waking up the kids for school. It’s the day in and day out routine that builds a beautiful life. It’s the little things we do that are ingrained in us from a lifetime of repetition that we might not even realize we’re doing. I hope my children pick up on these habits and know that above all, I sought to give them a soft place to land, somewhere that, even when life gets messy and ugly and really hard, they can always come back to and find home.