If your nights are anything like ours, they involve rush hour traffic, a hurried dinner in the kitchen juggling a crazy toddler (my husband doesn’t even sit down to eat most nights), bath time, books, bottle and bed (whew!) only to come down to a sink full of dishes, food all over the floor, laundry that needs to be started, and prep for the following day (andddd, that’s IF you don’t fall asleep putting the kids to bed)…am I right? No wonder they call it the second shift.
Recently a snowstorm blew through our area and for four days we barely left the house while a foot of snow covered the trees, yards and roads. I’m sure a lot of parents went crazy with kids in the house and the chaos of a wintry blizzard. But for us…everything seemed to slow down.
We built a fire in the fireplace everyday. We took midday naps and snuggled with our baby more. We made nice meals, including the ones with the long list of ingredients that we were too scared to tackle before because there was never enough time. I wrote. We played. And we danced.
You’re probably thinking, wait what? You danced?
Alexa was a Christmas gift and she sits in our kitchen. She helps me remember what I need to add to my shopping list, but the really cool thing about her is she plays whatever song you want to hear. Songs you haven’t heard in so long, that you basically forgot they existed (and no, I don’t have any affiliate links in this post).
She made it easy for us to have a dance party every night.
So we did.
We didn’t have to rush around and check everything off our to-do list before bed, just so we could get up the next morning and start all over again. We could sleep in. We could unwind. We could breathe in every moment.
That day I realized something. I realized that when time slows down, you remember what you love.
We played songs, new and old, and memories came flooding back of high school, college and nights out with friends. Memories of our first kiss…and our wedding song.
“Alexa, play ‘Only You Can Love Me This Way’ by Keith Urban.” And right there, in the middle of a kitchen and a snowstorm, we danced to our wedding song.
You want to know what we’ve done since then?
We have dance parties in our kitchen now. Even when it’s crazy, and our kid is a mess, and we’re exhausted from work, you realize a little N’Sync or Pink Floyd can brighten up the day. We pick up Alex, we turn up the volume, and we laugh. Grandma was over the other day and guess what? She danced, too, and Alex belly laughed the whole time. Guys, I can’t remember the last time I saw my mother dance and laugh like that.
If you slowed down today, what’s one thing that you love that you haven’t done in a while? What if every day was a snow day?
This year was a transformational year for me. I’ve done things I never knew I had the courage to do, and we’ve seen beauty, strength, perseverance, and faith play out in our lives. I’m not scared of anything anymore – I’ve realized I can take on the world, try new things, switch up the routine, and try to have a little more fun.
And dance.