I have learned many things since becoming a mother. There are the obvious things like the fact that my kid won’t die of a disease if she doesn’t get a bath every night or brush her teeth everyday, or that when you put them to bed at night and they cry, it’s actually NOT a known fact that it hurts you more than it hurts them. But then there are the other not-so-obvious things like finding out that throwing a penny in a body of water and making a wish will thrill a child beyond belief. This was the case a few days ago when I called Aunt Susan on a Sunday afternoon and said, “Hey, what are y’all doing? Mind if Brittain and I come and ruin whatever plans you might have previously had?” And so it was that we got in the car, drove to Atlanta and met Aunt Susan, Kristen (and Mimi as she was on her way back from North Carolina) and headed to the Botanical Gardens to be inspired.
As soon as we arrived and Aunt Susan paid a million dollars for all of us to enter, it immediately started to rain. But aside from it preventing me from taking what could have been some great pictures, not one of us said a word about it. For Brittain especially it seemed to be an added bonus to the day, as if NOT having the rain would have made it less fun. I think she even inspired the rest of us to take on that same thought process. Because just as the rain renewed all of the beautiful plants and flowers, it seemed to also renew us as we enjoyed the time together.
While there were numerous things Brittain enjoyed, I never would have guessed that having the opportunity to throw a coin and make a wish would have been at the top of the list. And it was the next few minutes that seemed to bring even more meaning and enjoyment to the day as we all stared at Brittain watching as she concentrated on the important task.
There have been only a handful of times since Brittain was born that I’ve had a night (with or without Brittain) that turned out to be more fun that I thought possible. There was a night a couple of years ago where Dan and I had a night out in Atlanta with Cecilia and Matt. We went to the hockey game and then to a few bars, embarrassing ourselves at karaoke along the way. We had SO much fun that night. Cec and I talked about it every day for I don’t know how long. In fact, we decided that it was so great that we didn’t know if we’d ever be able to recreate it that much fun again.
We experienced another night like this not too long ago with our friends, Jenny, Matt and Ava. After spending the day at Jenny’s dad’s pool with them, we decided to continue the party at our house. Shortly after we got there I decided it would be a great idea to have a “dance party.” I knew the girls would love it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to talk the guys into it. After already having had a discussion that we all secretly liked the Miley Cyrus song, “Party in the USA,” I asked Dan to do a download it for us. He ended up downloading 6 different songs, and those 6 songs became the official “dance party” CD. After repeating the CD about 150 times, dancing and laughing harder than I knew possible, and watching Brittain and Ava giggle from the fun and watching their parents act like fools, we finally (and somewhat unwillingly) called it a night at 12:30 a.m.
We don’t know if there will ever be a way to relive and recreate that night and the fun we had, but you know we’re sure as hell going to try!
P.S. In case you’re curious about the title of this post, one of the dance party songs was “I gotta feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. There is one chorus in the song where they sing “Mozel Tav” and then after it “L’chaim.” We kept wondering all night what the heck that even meant (even though it was one of our favorite parts to the song.) When deciding on the title of this post, I decided to look up what the word meant (and it’s spelling.) I found that it’s a Jewish toast that means, “To Life!” Couldn’t imagine anything more appropriate here. So, to Jenny, Matt, and Ava, “L’chaim!”
In a few months Brittain will have her first cousin! For the time being, the baby in Aunt Michelle’s tummy has been named Nacho due to the fact that it was conceived in Mexico on their honeymoon. Uncle Doug and Aunt Michelle made a trip to Griffin over Labor Day weekend. We were thrilled to see them since the last time we had seen them was at their wedding.
In addition to the good food, it was great being able to spend time together as family…and we also managed to fit in some Guitar Hero where Brittain got to play the drums with Uncle Doug.
