Here Where I Have Landed: Child star redux–no soup stains this time!
We did it! We remembered Little Miss’ evening performance during the Advent service and dressed her accordingly in the morning for preschool, unlike last year’s soup-stained-SASSY-printed-tee-shirt-and-pant-leg-in-boot disaster. Her 100% cotton dress wasn’t anywhere as fancy as her friends’ outfits as it lacked the intricate lace and luxurious velvet of a holiday dress but what the heck, she wasn’t wearing a t-shirt. That’s a huge improvement for us.
Together with My Guy, my mom and Thumper, we occupied half the pew in church as we watched our preschooler make faces, prance, climb on her seat, giggle with her friends and, oh right, sing Christmas songs. As the kids began to squirm and breakdance in their seats at minute nine, I knew I wasn’t wrong in questioning the school’s decision to serve these kids ice cream for dessert before the service. I mean, really? Here, get your sugar rush but make sure you sit still on stage!
Remarkably, apart from kids ready to spring from their seats at the end of the service, the evening went without a hitch. Thumper, who missed one of her naps, seemed to enjoy her first time in a church. She watched her big sister shine as she sat quietly (and extraordinarily) content on my lap so her sister could have her moment all to herself. Despite the lack of sleep, it was a fuss-free evening for us. And when we reached home, both kids happily went to sleep. And stayed asleep.
I know. I could hardly believe it myself. An evening with no incident. Suddenly I found myself here, at the computer. It’s been awhile, and I’m dying to write. To breathe life into these words that have been swirling in my head for over a week. So I do. Except I really shouldn’t.
There are unfinished handmade thank you cards stacked dolefully in a corner, begging to be sent/set free (because - and I should be embarrassed to admit this - Little Miss’ birthday party was almost a month ago!). A holiday party menu to plan. Christmas gifts to purchase. Misfits to return. Pants to hem. My baby’s issue with solids to research. A book club book to read. Holiday decorations to complete. Cookies to bake. Next tweet to make on Twitter. The constant cycle of laundry - to wash, to dry, to fold, and to ignore.
So really, I have no business being here. Except I need to be. Because breathing life into these words doesn’t just sustain my blog. It sustains me.
And because I wanted to capture this evening, for my Little Miss’ sake (and, in a small way, to selfishly redeem ourselves for screwing up my daughter’s stage debut last year). I think we did all right this time, but next year, she’s going with velvet.
Errr…no, this isn’t my daughter’s performance. This is The National; her dad and I were at their (kickass) show the night before. Why am I showing you this? Because, come on, a concert is a concert all right?
And, uhm, because we botched the pictures from her performance this year - they were all blurry and distant.
See? So much for redemption.
Guess you’ll just have to take my word for it. She wore a dress. No stains. Cute girl.