We Almost Got It

Game time.  A matching game that 6-year-old JT was so good at, it reminded me of Rain Man.  Maybe I should take him to the casinos?

Uh-oh, someone's asleep at the wheel.  So cute! (And quite frankly, so much easier to shop.)

A little backyard baseball before school. Um, Lucy, how are you catching?

Sometimes I feel like a contestant on Dancing With the Stars.  Except my wardrobe sucks, I don't have a spray tan and I'm not famous--never have been.  Even though I'm not an aging child star, I still feel a little like a has-been.  Trying a little too hard to be relevant.  Trying to hard too pretend that I still got it.


This whole dance is wearing me out.   I feel like we (my good old dancing partner Tim, my husband) take two steps forward and then one giant sep back.  That's what the waltz is like right?  My dad and his wife tried to teach Tim and me how to really waltz years ago.  In our tiny kitchen they counted 1-2-3..."there you go, you almost got it" they said.  But we really never got it.


I think both Tim and I thought that when we short sold our home that life would get so much easier, instantly.  But of course, curing ten years of bad financial decisions is a process.  It's a long dance with all those steps forward and back.


It's frustrating.  And it's tiring.  Just when I feel like throwing a diva like fit and walking off the set, I see something a little wonderful.  Like my kids getting great report cards (braggy mom moment).  Or watching Wade fall asleep in a bean bag next to his big brothers' bunk beds to be closer (I guess worrying about having them be on top of each other in the same bedroom was silly).    


I love the sense of play, fun and love of life that I see in my children and family.  


They want to be together.  They want to play together. (Disclaimer: These are most of the time scenarios, they fight like hell all the other times.)And I couldn't be prouder, even if my checkbook would make most people have a panic attack.


Watching those good moments, remembering all the sweetness in life, all that I am grateful for and I start swaying to the music again. Back to the waltz. I mean, c'mon, we almost got it.

This is as close as we are to my favorite Eight is Enough style pose.  You remember right?  The whole pyramid?  Well, we are going with four is enough and I can't wait to do the pose.  Just have to wait until a couple of them are a little older.  Talk about two steps forward? Life really is good.