Forewarning- a little text heavy today. I had to write this for me as much as I did for you. Thanks for being here!
I’m a little bummed. I planned a girl’s night out weeks ago, for tonight, and I just realized that it coincides with the opening day of The Lego Movie (insert dramatic sigh here). I’m pretty sure that I am more excited to see this than my kids are. And they are pretty excited. I’ve got a strange obsession with Lego people- my son has a ton because of my addiction. They are just so little and cute! Hearing about The Lego Movie was like finding out that cookies don’t have calories (I told you I was excited!). But sadly, I will have to wait for another day to see it. My girlfriends might not understand my changing plans for a “kid” movie.
Being a kid was great. My childhood was filled with a lot of fun. I loved exploring the nearby creek, riding my bike all over the neighborhood, watching Saturday morning cartoons, and eating candy with no adverse effects to my waistline. All grown up with bills and yard work and children (among other things), it can be hard to harness that good feeling anymore.
But having kids has been the best excuse to still act like one when I can. My family has been to Disneyland a silly amount of times, largely in part to the giddy feeling I (we all) get when we are there. At a place like Chuck E. Cheese, you won’t find me waiting by the pizza- I’ll be playing Skee ball or Fruit Ninja or helping my kids count their tickets. At a water park I love the slides as much as they do and I still love eating hot dogs and gummy worms (just not together).
Some of those things can be chalked up to what we do for our kids. But the last time we went camping I made a decision to go against the norm of what the other adults were doing and follow my (kid at) heart. There were huge sand dunes that the kids were using sledding saucers to go down. I followed the kids one afternoon and trudged up the dune with my own saucer. The kids looked at me a little strange at first and laughed as I got pants full of sand on my first slide down. Before long they didn’t act like it was weird that a grown-up was playing with them and I had SO much fun. I have no idea why the other adults didn’t join me. Other than the sand in the pants- it was a ball. It felt so good to be silly and free. And it was a heck of a workout trudging up the dunes!
Being a parent, especially being a mom, doesn’t always afford me the opportunity to be silly. I annoy myself with all the “wash your hands, finish your homework, clean your room” orders that I bark. Being able to let loose and be silly lets my kids add some fun into the memories they are making with me. It feels so good to giggle with my kids. I’m reminded of what really matters to me.
A few weeks ago, outside with my little monkeys, I was attempting to skate again and my daughter was lending me an arm for balance. My son was entertaining himself by driving his new remote control car around the driveway. It was dodging our feet (safe, I know) and he thought it was hysterical. He was bent over laughing the best belly laughs. I wanted to bottle up this heart happy moment. Him giggling, her feeling like an important helper, and me being THERE, with no to-do list in hand, just having fun. That is balancing the busy for me.
Before too long I’ll be embarrassing them with my antics so I better do it now while they are enjoying it. Right now she thinks it’s cool that I skate with her. I can only imagine the eye roll I would get when she is 16 if I told her I was lacing up my skates and taking a whirl around the neighborhood (but don’t get me wrong, I would still totally do it). Until then I’m going to dance in the kitchen, read books in silly voices to match the characters, and cuddle up to watch cartoons. The best part about NOT being a kid, is that as an adult, nobody can tell me that I can’t eat the whole bag of gummy worms….
It’s Friday, you’ve got the whole weekend ahead. How can you balance your busy with a little kid-like behavior?
