I have no illusions that you'll ever read this, but I need to document it for keeps, because the magic you worked in my life tonight was too special to let the memory fade away.
The day started as good as any, but by dinner, it had become one of those terrible, awful, no good days. My poor four-year-old had a swimming lesson in the morning that sapped every drop of energy out of him. He needed a nap. He would not take a nap. Hence, the falling apart began around 1 o'clock in the afternoon. He cried over everything and nothing until his eyes were nearly swelled shut. But still, he refused to give in to his exhaustion.
When his brother and sister came home from school, he teased them mercilessly, stole their toys, pinched them and cried that he was the injured party so loudly, that by dinnertime we'd all nearly lost our appetites.
We were at wit's end. Actually, we passed through Wit's End about 4:30. Where we were after dinner at 6pm was a place most parents have visited, but prayed they'd never have to return to!
And then the magic happened. I turned on Pandora as I cleaned up the kitchen. And three songs in, I heard the telltale guitar picking. I looked at my 6 year old daughter, who had been learning the song in school and singing it all over the house this spring. Her eyes grew wide as your voice came through the speakers...
"Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start..."
What happened next was the stuff that dreams are made of. I picked up my ornery son, held him close, and we danced around the kitchen like Maria and Captain Von Trapp. At first he was like dancing with stone, but soon he loosened up and a smile began to form on his lips. A few spins, dips and kisses all over his face and he was actually giggling!
We sang our hearts out, my daughter and I, and we DO-RE-ME-FA-SO-LA-TI-DOed the grumpiness right out of the house!
That was the magic that happened for our little guy. But there was an even greater magic that happened for me. About halfway through the song, time and space seemed to melt away and I was transported back to the year I was a senior in high school and served as a nanny for two darling little children. I could see myself dancing around the room with the little boy, and remembered that at that very moment, I was praying and dreaming in my heart for the day that the child in my arms would be my OWN.
And then time swirled backward even further, and I was a little girl dancing in my family room...twirling, twirling, floating away, as the 8 track played my favorite songs, the ones I had memorized and knew every harmony, every word, every move, from my favorite movie of all time...The Sound of Music.
Even then, I had dreams of the family I'd one day have, the mother I hoped to become (definitely the kind of mother who would tear down the curtains to make play clothes, or turn a thunderstorm into a party, or plan a puppet show for entertainment!)
As we danced around the kitchen tonight, it all came full circle.
THIS IS MY DREAM!
Even on the worst, miserable, no-good day, I am the luckiest woman in the world, because the dream I dreamed my whole life long...has come true.
So thank you Julie Andrews, for reminding me how blessed I am, tonight, when I needed it most.
4 comments:
This could be my most.favoritist.post.ever! It truly is a dream come true. Thank you for sharing. (miss ya')
Keri! I miss you too :) Thanks for commenting. I'm not savvy enough to figure out who reads this ole blog unless they give me a shout out in the comments, so I'm so glad to see you here!
I agree with Keri! This is by far one of my most favoritist posts ever! So happy that you were able to have such a precious time with the kiddos! :)
This entry just popped up in my blog reader...eons later, and I LOVED IT!!! So perfect, just what I needed to hear. Yes, thank you Julie Andrews for working your magic! And thank you Beth for sharing it :)
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