Dance Party Perspective

How often do we think we just don't have our shit together?

We walk into a Monday with a list of 10 to-do items, and instead of knocking them out one at a time, the list suddenly expands to 30 before lunch? Or, we walk into the house after a long day without a single plan for dinner, clutter on the counters, and three screaming banshees wanting dinner? I used to think that was just "Mondays at the Godinez house", but as I visit with my friends and co-workers, I realize that it isn't just me.

This adulthood business is hard. Frankly, sometimes it sucks. Whether it is not being able to figure out our kids, trying to solve complicated work projects that consume our existence, or household responsibilities that overshadow all else, it can be a daunting task to simply seek balance.

Delusional Melissa used to think the answers came with age, more work experience, or more time as a parent, but that is a lie. Just when I get cocky and think I have things figured out, some new, more perplexing issue presents itself. But, at work, that is simply what we are paid to solve, and as parents, that is our inherent task - to navigate the tricky road of raising our kids.

At the end of this Monday, like many others, I have no grand plan or everything accomplished that was on my to-do list this morning. We walked in the door after a busy day of work, school, and therapy appointments, and everyone was about to go into full throttle meltdown mode. So, we turned on some music, Luke yelled, "Let's jam!" and busted some kick ass moves while Claire and Aubrey "danced" in their seats. During that hour, the meltowns faded, the to-do list didn't matter, and we laughed.

We do have our shit together - it just takes a little dance party to realize it sometimes.

An earthquake, a baptism, and a wedding

This morning, Luke trotted downstairs at 6:45 wearing shoes with his pajamas.  "Hi mom! Shoes on. Blue car now?" he asked, pointing at the garage. A true Godinez child - always expecting an adventure.  Although we're disappointing him this weekend with a quiet weekend at home, we're all still in recovery mode after our epic adventures last weekend with an earthquake, a baptism, and a wedding.

We knew the weekend would be nutty, but thankfully, the kiddos were as good as gold (minus a few meltdowns in the car - by them, not me). Luke does tend to go a little crazy from all of the attention, so Saturday morning around 7:00 am, when suddenly everything in the room started making noise, we assumed it was Luke upstairs trying to do something to get attention. Then, we realized that the wall and bed were moving, and Patrick finally put it all together - "We're having an earthquake." Can we not have just one boring trip to Kansas?

Soon, it was time for round one of family festivities: Aubrey's baptism. As we were starting, the priest looked around the room and said, "This is a lot of people." Oh, it isn't normal to bring 40 people to a baby's baptism? Weird. Back when Luke was born an spent some time in NICU, we decided to have a large fiesta for family and friends to meet the little dude.  Because grandparents are far more fair than parents, it was only natural that Claire and now Aubrey would be welcomed to the craziness of our family with a Mexican fiesta with all of our family and friends.

Aubrey and her godparents - Mike and Blake

                                             

 After brunch with the Malone clan, it was was time to celebrate Jeff and Tricia's wedding.  The wedding was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the DJ was excellent. Luke, Claire, and Aubrey never left the dance floor.  They boogied with friends and family the entire night, while I prayed they would be so exhausted that they wouldn't notice the three hour drive later that night to OKC.  To end the festivities, Tricia and Jeff bought lanterns for everyone to light and release. Obviously, they underestimated the abilities of their friends and family - after almost lighting the grass, a few trees, and each other on fire - the lanterns finally launched, and it was our cue to head south.

Although the distance between San Antonio and Wichita is less than ideal, nothing beats these trips home.  Truly, nothing is better than being with friends and family and seeing Luke, Claire, and Aubrey form the relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that Patrick and I were so lucky to grow up with.

In the words of Luke, "Shoes on. Blue car now?" We are always ready for an adventure, so, until the next one.....

Congrats Tricia and Jeff, and thank you to everyone who made time to celebrate Aubrey's baptism.