frankie says, relax. it's the spin cycle!

ooo...apparently all the cool kids are doing it.
it's called the spin cycle...
started by sprite's keeper. who mentioned little! me! in! a! blog! post!

and quite honestly...i was NEVER in the in-crowd in high school. so i'm uber-excited when someone likes me! mentions me. not that i need any validation for who i am. but it's kinda like seeing my name in lights. on broadway.

the rules of the game (?) as i see it are:
1. she gives us a topic of conversation that we get to write about sometime within the week. (yeah! i don't have to think! oh yeah...i do have to think...a little. i DO have to write the thing...)
2. we let her know we did it! and she says, "hooray! you did it!"
3. and we all hug and smile at each other and become the best of friends ... (ok, maybe not that part.)

so here goes.

frankie says, "relax"

i don't know who frankie is...i don't understand why he has anything to do with it...so...let's try again...

blah blah blah, "relaaaaax"

better.

when i think about relaxing as a mom ... i think, initially, that i wish i could.

i remember my mom talking about how she and her friends wish that they had a shared apartment somewhere, that they could all have a key to. they could use it as a retreat. a place to get away and turn off the mommy light occasionally. (or every week.) ... (maybe every day?)

a place that they could visit and share stories and get away from the kids and husbands. i think that would be divine. at times. it would be a place to relax.

but would it?

as a mom we are always on. i don't care who you are ... i'm sure that thoughts of your children are constantly seeping into your conversation and editing themselves into your mind. we don't leave them behind. we can't.

as i sit here, eagerly awaiting my girly-girls to come home from daycare...i realize that i am most relaxed when i am with them. teaching them and learning from them. i let my guards down. i giggle and fool around. my shoulders drop and i smile. i don't have to prove anything to them. i don't have to impress them. ever. they are impressed by me ... just being me.

the most peace and relaxation i have felt in weeks was when my littlest grabbed my knees from behind and said, "i luh lu".

because, ultimately, i realized that they are turning out ok.

but...a trip to the spa and an overnight hotel room eating pizza by myself on my bed would be fine too.

and ... i just got two more spontaneous hugs as they arrived home. now that's divine.