Not Another Dance Recital -

The past two weeks my social media has been filled with pictures and posts of tiny dancers dressed up in tutus and lipstick, either getting ready for a dress rehearsal or getting ready for the big performance – their recital. I love seeing all of my friends kids dressed up and excited for their big day.

But do I wish that was us? No way!

The thing is, that WAS us last year. Kate took ballet as a 2 year old and I can honestly say she really enjoyed it. Kevin and I had fun with it too. I mean doesn’t every parent of a 2 year old enjoy seeing their kid twirl around on stage, curtsey really big, and then love it so much that they run back on stage during the next class’s performance? Oh wait, you mean that’s just our kid? Oops.

She had fun, she got some exercise, and she met some new friends, so we felt like it was pretty good for her. We actually enrolled her again this past year (in August) in a tumbling class, and she went for about a month and a half.

And then we got Karsten.

And she dropped out.

She didn’t know what was going on, but one thing I’ve really learned in the past 8 months is that you can only do what you can do, and that’s it.

For us, adjusting to 2 kids and figuring out how to make it work was just about all we could handle. And extracurricular activities? Well, they were OUT.

Some moms (and dads) have superpowers and can handle lots of kids, who each have their own activities, and somehow can get them to twenty different things in a day ON TIME. Oh, and they eat home cooked meals every night. But that’s not us. And I don’t feel bad about it.

The past 8 months, it has been awesome to come home from work, and for the most part, be HOME. We do go to church every Wednesday, but other than that, we have no weeknight obligations. And it is fantastic. The days of practices are ahead of us, I’m sure. But right now, our time is OURS.

So I’ll look back on those baby ballerina pictures from a year ago and smile…

But I think I’m going to smile just as much (or more!) remembering those summer nights at home with the sprinkler going, riding bicycles in the driveway, blowing bubbles, eating ice cream on the back porch, and pretty much just being silly and having fun together.