Bring on the Upheaval!

I've been kind of quiet about day-to-day life here lately because we've actually found some semblance of a routine in our lives.  This, of course, means that we will soon be heading for some kind of complete upheaval.  As a parent, that's really just what happens once you start to wiggle down into the comfort of that 'normal' feeling. Some people might think I'm alluding to the impending arrival of my parents and siblings...that is the best kind of upheaval.  But, no, I think we're starting to pull our heads out of the sand thanks, in part, to my sweet social butterfly Bailey.

The one thing John, Audrey and I have in common (and yes...there's only one thing) is that we're all introverts.  Introverted in very different ways, but still, we draw strength from down time and solitude.  This makes Bailey possibly the most fabulous kind of odd duck.  Because her extroverted behavior is something beautiful and often envied by the rest of us.  She is just an incredibly joyous child, so overall we haven't seen her necessarily suffering from a lack of socialization, but we knew.  We just knew she would shine even brighter if she had some consistent interaction with kids her age.

Enter:  Little Big Ones.  This is a small music class for English speaking kids that meets once a week.  It's held in a little meeting room off of a church in the 1st district and we've gone for two weeks now.  To say that Bailey loves it would be an understatement.  She just positively bursts with enthusiasm and pure Bailey-ness.  It's so sweet and shiny, it makes my heart hurt with pride.  I've also decided that I need to just get over myself and start getting Bailey into a more regular rotation of play dates.  I may not like having a social calendar to organize, but for Bailey it's the difference between simply floating along or grabbing life by the cojones and saying "Let's do this!!"

I'm jealous, to be honest, of my Bear's absolute overflowing positive zeal for life.  We took a walk around the Ring this past weekend and on our way we saw a drum line performing in Resslepark.  It was a totally unrehearsed, improvised fantastic tribal beat and all I wanted to do was start dancing like an idiot.  Bailey beat me to it, though.  While I leave my pink pants at home, Bailey wears a flippy skirt every day just on the off-chance that there might be the opportunity to sing and dance.  THAT is what I want to be when I grow up.  I want to be prepared at any opportunity to make a fool of myself because I'm so moved to show joy that it can't be contained.

I looked around at the rest of the people watching these drummers.  I knew they could feel the bass drum thumping in their hearts just as loud as it was in mine.  Some people tapped their feet or bobbed a little to the beat.  Others just smiled.  That's cool; everybody's got their own means of expression.  But, I was kind of disappointed with myself.  I wasn't being genuine.  I wasn't being true to myself.  This fuddy duddy exterior can get to be kind of a drag, but I keep it on because it helps me fit in.

What I really want to have the courage to do, though, is to be a little more like my daughter--the girl who stared at a woman on the U-Bahn for at least two minutes until she finally made eye contact...all just so she could say "Hi!".  I want to be able to single out strangers (and good relations too for that matter) just to make them feel that seeing them was a genuine pleasure.

God gave me an incredible gift in this kid: he's showing me how childlike love is the best.  It trumps everything the rest of us fuddy duddys have got going on.  So, even though it's easiest for me to find peace and energy in my mundane regularly-scheduled days, I think it's time to bring a little upheaval into our lives.  And we're kick-starting that with a visit from my crazy family.  Better opening festivities for any event, I couldn't imagine. 

Ice cream for everyone!!!