My Happiest

I asked myself one morning this week as I was laying in bed with my arm around each of  my two daughters, when am I at my happiest?  Right away, I answered.... swimming in the ocean joyfully playing with a dear friend... no responsibilities... no expectations.... just allowing the ocean to cradle me.
Mall of America - Nickelodeon Universe

And then the rest of my weekend happened... and I realized I have an equally happy time when I'm alone playing with my children.... it went like this:  I agree to go to one of the largest malls in America during Christmas vacation to the indoor amusement park.  It will probably be one of the busiest days of the year for them.  BUT the little cousins were in town and my kids would so love having a fun outing with them.  So I agree to go knowing that my children are excited beyond belief to be able to have this experience.  The first ride.... water ride/log chute... oh man... but Alyse (4) wanted to go and I had to go with her because she wasn't tall enough to go alone.  But it was EXACTLY where I wanted to be; holding her close to me as she was scared to the point of shaking of the giant pretend and moving OX and Paul Bunyan moving figures along the sides of the ride.  Then she wanted to go on the big orange roller coaster because her older siblings also did.  Again I had to ride with her because of her height.  Again she shook with fear during the tight turns and even yelled out in fear, but she grabbed my arm tightly and knew it would be fine.  Momma was there.

At one point Alyse was with her two little cousins going on the smaller kid rides and I took the older
Authentic Laughter
two on a BIG kid ride.  I didn't ride, but I stood outside the line near them and watched as they got to the front and then they chose 'turtle shells' (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ride) close to where I was standing and got into them smiling the BIGGEST smiles and making sure to look over at me and show me how they could rock the shell. :)  It was during this ride that I found my 'happiest'..... each time that Sarah (9) would pass by me on the ride, she would make eye contact with me and hold it until she could see me no more.... smiling with the purest excitement... the pure innocent happiness of a child = my happiness.  Sharing those moments of pure joy with my children.... I cried instantly!

Oh but there were more moments like this.... we ended up riding that roller coaster 3 more times and each time I sat next to Alyse, she overcame her fear until the last time she just wanted my arm around her for snuggling and not for a feeling of safety... oh how they grow in 2 hours! :)  And Reece (7), seeing his proud burst of energy as he realized that he overcame a fear he had of the turtle ride from the last time he was at the park with his grandparents... another
Eyes of wisdom
happiest!  I guess when you become a parent, you no longer experience only your own happiests... you get to share in the happiests of your kids as well!  BONUS!!!!!!!!!

My happiest... I guess there isn't just one pinnacle point... but each time I know it involves a pure and open link to something so alive and giving... maybe the ocean, maybe a friend, maybe a child.... pure goodness!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday Vinyasa

Image
Having leisurely mornings is something that I am enjoying immensely as of late.  Today was no different.  I woke up did some correspondence and headed up to my painting project to dot some i's and cross some t's.     Of course I got a bit carried away because I couldn't let good paint go to waste and went into the Little One's closet to add some more to her mural... when I returned to my iPod dock, it said it was past the time to get out of the house for Sunday morning yoga!  DOH!  Plus it's January and it's really full in January.. full of people with great intentions... I'll just leave it at that.  :) I thought, this is the FIRST time I was able to go to this class on a Sunday (with my favorite teacher) and I am going to jet out of here and make it!  And I did... BUT I forgot my badge to get in - thankfully you get one 'forget' time and I know the people at the desk so they know I'm legit.  WHEW! I made it... I'm on the mat.  It'...
Read more

Re: The Title

So I mentioned in my first post that I would explain the title of this blog later and I guess it's time... Packers and Vikings are playing in the background and I would rather write.. although I did partake in some 'cowboy caviar' which is a salsa of sorts as part of my football party food put together for a football gathering that I decided not to attend... So "Maybe She's Mental" is a little something that came to me in the woods (of course) because of a certain happening in my life that caused unnamed people to think I needed psychiatric help.  If you change your behavior from what everyone expects of you, you probably need therapy and subsequent medication for a 'condition' that was brought on from stress or other traumatic event.  Can you get out of a psychiatrist's office WITHOUT medication?  I don't know and I don't intend to find out. I also tend to have random thoughts that could seem strange to others so I could see them think...
Read more

Three Strikes

Image
In an attempt to get some quiet time at night after the kids go to bed, I instituted a new program for my almost 4 year old yesterday - 'The Three Strikes and YOU'RE OUT' program.  It never fails to amaze me how a technique can work wonderfully for one child, maybe even the second child, but the third comes along and blows it all out of the water!  I never even had to get to this level with #1 and #2, the counting up to 5 usually did the trick! Last night I told her about the program and she got ALL THREE STRIKES in about 5 minutes!  Now what?  Now I have her removing the strikes she got... by being a good listener.  She will likely be back to full strike status in no time this evening when it comes time to go to bed again... I do love her non-conformity.... and she's so darn cute I really can't get mad at her... my little firecracker.
Read more