I'm a planner. Well, at least I was until I became a mom. And then I learned about this great phrase called, "Fly By The Seat of Your Pants!" I tried to plan as much as I could before I became a mom: Good man, check. Cute little house, check. Crib, car seat, couple packs of diapers, 14 gender neutral outfits, and a copy of "what to expect when you're expecting," check, check, check, and check.
Then my first bundle of joy arrived in 2002. The Captain, as I call him here, was a pretty awesome baby. And I was completely overwhelmed. My mother told me, "next time, you will get a normal baby, and then you'll really be in for a surprise!"
And she was right. 2004, the Adventurer arrived on the scene. And yes, I got a "normal" baby. One who marched to his own beat from the very beginning. But the Captain had prepared me for this new little guy, and our little family of four grew close.
In 2006 there was a new man in my life. The Entertainer arrived with the loudest, most piercing scream I or the doctor had ever heard. He knew he was the third boy, and as such, he was competitive and vocal from the very beginning. And he's been that way pretty much ever since. Three boys; we were now a party of 5... we were full and happy and done.
In 2008 we got the surprise of our lives. We weren't done! Princess Lilly proved herself to be a girl, on an ultrasound on my birthday that year. 5 months later, burst into our lives, becoming our first daughter and our last baby. I cried my eyes out for two weeks strait. (my husband would interject that this was the way I normally spent the two weeks post-birth, but I can't remember if that is true or not...) She is a shining joy to all of us. Well, when she's not stealing toys or poking someone when they arn't looking. She is strong and sweet, just the way I hoped she'd be, just the way all 4 of my little ones are... And now we are a family of 6, tumble, bumble, fighting, snuggling, laughing, crying, loving... usually all at once.
10 months later, our lives where turned upside down when the economy faltered. I went back to work for my favorite retail company in all the world, and I discovered that while I am still pretty decent at planning, I've gotten really good at flying by the seat of my pants.
So somewhere between snuggling, baseball games, crunching numbers, promoting sales, cooking, carpools, baseball again, martial arts, fingernail painting (Princess Lilly's of course!), reading, class trips, and more baseball, I've learned a life-altering lesson: how to untangle a slinky.
Well, at least figuratively. Have you ever tried to literally untangle a slinky? Even if you get all the wires uncrossed that thing never goes back to it's normal shape. That's why I recommend opting for plastic ones. If they tangle, you just cut them where they cross, and wa-la, you've now got two! It's called the art of multiplication through division... ie: perspective.
But alas, it'll take another cup of coffee before I can finish dissectingg that metaphor. More or less, this is a little corner of a vastly complex virtual reality, where I can tell little stories about the 5 most important people I know, and leave myself a little trail of memory crumbs, to find my way back to the sweetness of remembering watching them grow.
Sugar coated? Of course! But like I said, have you ever tried to untangle a wire slinky? Get the plastic kind. Dissect it where it crosses, and the mess will have doubled your investment... or in our case, tripled your investment. (You know, because 2 times 3 equals 6...) I know, it's a shaky metaphor. But what do you expect? I have four kids, a full time job, and a crazy puppy. Usually by the time I sit down to write, I'm just happy if I can still put full sentences together.
Enjoy!
Hannah
