The Greatest Joy

Yes, we have just passed the three month mark and, yes, my last post was at the one month mark...go figure.  It is definitely time for a long winded update, but tonight is not the night.  Tonight is the night where I leave you with the mental snapshot of why we are even able to make it to the next day.

I think, perhaps, one of the greatest joys of parenting is when you get to see your kids just BE kids.  When they usher you into their world of play and you indulge that world as if it is the only reality you or they have ever known.  In the midst of rearranged furniture and edges of rolled back carpets, I played the part of the audience, complete with steak knife perforated ticket stub, in ice arena stadium seat 101.  The lights dimmed, the crowd hushed, the living room curtains parted and the show began.  For the next 45 minutes (yes, 45 minutes and, yes, I could've been doing something more productive and, yes, I would do it again every night until my children grow up and move out) I watched my children slide around in knee length socks on the hardwood floor, doing the most clumsy rendition of ice skating I have ever seen.  Perez, in Maggie's light pink and magenta striped pajama bottoms (which, I must say, scarily resembled the look of the tights the male dancers wear in The Nutcracker), took this show MUCH more seriously than the season's soccer tournament he played in this past Saturday.  Maggie, although a fantastic dancer when not on "ice", took to a lot of jumping and odd looking hand motions due to the fact that her socks weren't slippery enough.  I belly laughed (but was told to keep silent to respect the skaters performance) as Akon sang "Nobody wants to see us together" and Fergie belted out "Let's get it started in here" as my children pranced and slipped around with a different beat in mind all together.  I'm still laughing nearly 4 hours after the finale.  I'll probably wake up laughing.

That is what keeps me moving.  Moments grab me and drag me, laughing and often crying, until I'm passed off to the next moment, that has an even stronger grip and more powerful tug.  This is the way we roll.

Now stand up and do a silly dance or something.  Try the sliding-in-the-socks-on-the-wood-floor thing.  It will seriously make you laugh even if you are in the worst mood of your life.  That is what we need right?

From America with love and a heck of a lot of laughter,
Ali