"Butt Flip"

Earlier this week, after a long day of household projects, my testosterone rich family sat down for dinner. Hours of painting had left little energy for anything more than quesadillas. No fruit, no veggies, no tortilla chips – just quesadillas, with a side of soda. While we ate we discussed gymnastics. It started as a simple conversation about cartwheels and backflips. I retold tales of childhood round-offs and back-walk-overs. Although I tried to describe my graceful moves, they were disappointed to learn that I no longer had the gift of flip. Between bites, each child displayed their very best cartwheels. Mike and I praised their techniques. After cajoling them back to the table to finish their dinner, Greyden informed us that he was capable of doing “butt flips”. It was at this moment I should have known that things were going to take a swift turn south. Literally.

In the blink of an eye, Greyden bolted to the middle of the open floor. He whipped down his shorts and underwear. Dropped to the ground. Laid on his back and flipped his little legs over his head. Thus producing a—leave nothing to the imagination—full moon. A “butt flip”.

I’m sure a mother of girls would have politely informed my mooner that sharing your butt with people at dinner is impolite and a bit rude. But, I’m the mother of boys.

I laughed right-out-loud. Not the polite chuckle of a proper lady, but a long and loud guffaw matching the sidesplitting laughter of my mate and sons. Our hysterics spurred Greyden on, thus causing him to repeat his acrobatics multiple times throughout the rest of our meal.

There was something delightfully magical about our family’s chorus of laughter that refreshed and nourished my soul. Even now, as I write, I giggle and smirk at the carefree (and totally inappropriate) antics of my four year old son. This is a story that will someday horrify him, and will bring amusement to our family for far longer than he would like. I gotta say, I never thought a full moon would bring such sunshine to my day.

What Deserves Praise?

“Self-love takes practice. It’s new behavior. We can begin to measure what we are doing, rather than what we haven’t yet managed to do, and praise ourselves.”

The end of spring break often leaves me with a slightly defeated outlook on life. Spring Break is meant to be the time of year that every “to do” and “can’t wait to do” is completed. There is no holiday to interrupt the flow of the week, so it seems perfectly realistic to get caught up on everything I didn’t get to at winter break. However, the week is never long enough to truly accomplish all that my head and heart can dream up. So, I have a tendency to feel a little blue as I consider returning to work. I can’t seem to remember what I’ve filled my week with and my current “to do” list is longer than the pink notepad paper that hangs on my refrigerator.

As I ponder this idea I realize, sometimes that’s how we feel about life in general. Our wish list outweighs our accomplishments, we tend not to keep a running list of what we’ve done with our lives and our memory isn’t good enough to remember it all. And so we forget, and only see what we haven’t managed to do yet. We rarely take time to celebrate; we rush on to remind ourselves of all that we must do before we die. Depressing. And rather unhealthy, if I do say so myself.

So, in the spirit of celebrationsJ

1.      put pen to paper (or posted) more times in March than I did in all of 2011

2.      became a non-paid non-professional face painter for my niece, Leah’s, 2^nd birthday – so cute I just want to eat her up

3.      confidence and craft are improving because of my March challenge

4.      two nights at Mt. Princeton hot springs (not mentioning I forgot sunblock and had several red faces)

5.      visited grandma & grandpa – came home with two more (thankfully small) stuffed animals that the boys just couldn’t live without

6.      painted our bedroom – 3 different neutral colors, one being a white ceiling. (Painting a ceiling should be on its own separate list of accomplishments.)

7.      escaped home repairs to discuss writing & life with friends (more than once)

8.      identity as a coworker has expanded because of the March challenge

9.      painted boys’ room – one color (Grey thought it looked purple, fortunately dried a nice shade of tan)

10.  gave kisses, read stories, and settled into a pleasant family routine

11.  managed to reassemble bedrooms with only one living room slumber party

12.  visited football games, parks and swimming pools (few more red cheeks – I’m just not prepared for this weather quite yet)

13.  tiled the boys’ bathroom (really not my accomplishment, but very happy it’s being done)

14.  finally got to eat a quiet breakfast and writeJ

Mighty fine list of accomplishments! I’m just going to take a minute to sit with this list, before turning over with my current “to do” list and moving forward.

You’re valuable and worthy of a little celebration too. What are you doing that deserves praise?

Update: My friend, Gina, is doing well. The initial report indicates that it is scar tissue, but official results will not be in for another week. I was standing in the paint aisle at Home Depot when I got the word; cried like a baby. She is out of the hospital and beginning her recovery process. Thank you for your continued prayers and well wishes! I’ll keep you posted.