Feeling the Beat

Our house has always been one of varied tastes in music.  David's first love, as everyone knows, is anything and everything put out by U2.  While he has grown to enjoy the likes of Coldplay, Shiny Toy Guns and jazz music, he also has a draw to electronic music.  Envision what you would hear coming from some European discotheque and you can imagine what I wake up to blasting out of his iPod late at night.  I, on the other hand, enjoy anything from Kings of Leon to Taylor Swift.  It's difficult for us to agree on music when traveling for sure!  But now as Caroline grows older we are dealing and learning to compromise with a third music lover in the house.  Our girl loves to sing on the top of her lungs and is quite the mover and shaker on the dance floor.  The librarian at story time even commented our first week that Caroline really responds to music.  At that exact moment Caroline was dancing with great passion all around the story room as all of the other children stayed in place in the story time circle.  I guess all of those dance parties with mommy at home to Justin Bieber and Beyonce were showing through.



I can't say that David and I are fans of the typical children's music cds.  Personally, they make us cringe when we try to play them for her.  But thankfully one week at Story Time at the library I stumbled upon this gem.    Baby Loves Jazz Greatest Hits.  It puts a cool spin on classics like "Wheels on the Bus" and "Old Macdonald".  Surprisingly David requests this cd as much as Caroline.  So these days if you happen to pull up next to us at a stoplight you will hear this belting out of the stereo.  Not only does little girl like her music but she likes it LOUD! :)

Perfectionism v. Authenticity

Hello blog world!  I’m back from a very long hiatus from writing on this blog.  To be honest, I allowed my perfectionism to prevent me from blogging because I never felt like I could get the words out in just the right manner or feared I didn’t have anything meaningful or fun to share that was blog-worthy. 

It’s the constant battle of perfectionism v. authenticity. 

That was even the topic of conversation on a phone date this afternoon with my best friend Ansley.  We were talking about how we both long for our homes to be safe havens for people to come and share life with us where they can be comfortable and vulnerable and not afraid to share the raw and real of life.  I want to offer words that breathe life into people and refreshment.   Ansley shared how what she admired most in other women was the ability to allow others into the mess of life; toys strewn throughout the house, laundry piles, meals thrown together.  Women who weren’t constantly apologizing for the state of their homes but just welcomed you into their chaos and said “Pull up a chair, would you like a corndog?”  It was the willingness to let someone see their kids misbehave and have to be disciplined or the fact that their house didn’t look like a spread from the current month’s issue of Southern Living.  It lets you breathe and just relax and be yourself without any need for putting on a mask of perfection.

Yet we both agreed and confessed that although we long for that atmosphere in our homes we both fall prey to the lie that we need to project perfection when others come over.  The struggle of having all the toys put away in their perfect storage spot and the house clean and spotless.  The struggle of thinking if you invite people over for a meal it better be a spread like one from Food Network or Martha Stewart.  And don’t even mention that our kids act up and misbehave in front of others and humiliate us.  People might think we have no control or failed in training our children properly.  So we chase what we think people expect and all the while we know in our hearts that this is the furthest thing from being authentic.  What happened to that experience we loved earlier of being welcomed to the chaos and having room to breathe.  So we issued a challenge to each other to let go and release our perfectionist’s ways and embrace our reality, our authentic life and invite others to join us there.  Yes kids are going to misbehave.  Yes our houses are going to be overtaken with legos and puzzles.  Yes we eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.  But come join us in this craziness.  Pull up a chair and share life with us.   Feel the freedom to be yourself and we’ll be ourselves and let’s encourage each other where we are at in life. 

Life at the Shore

Some of my favorite memories of childhood are of days with my toes in the sand or gently floating in the sea.  Growing up near the coast there were a lot of summer days spent that way, especially since my mom loved the beach.  She would pack a cooler full of drinks and food and load my sister and I into a car filled with beach chairs, floats, and toys for digging and building castles in the sand.  They were glorious days!  So now when my family goes on their annual trip to the beach I always jump at the chance to come along.  Caroline's first exposure to the shore was at 3 months old and each year it has been so fun to see her take it all in in a new way.  This year her favorite beach activities were digging in the sand and throwing sea shells into the ocean. Each day she would get caught up in one activity and want to do it over and over again.  She even played a round of bocce ball with us!  

 

These times at the beach are some of my favorite memories.  It always makes me long to be a kid again.  Thank you Mom & Daddy for always treating us to these very special getaways at the shore.