Sock Hop 2019

Last month my daughter's school had a sock hop. They had games, music, food, and of course a small dance. It was probably the cutest thing I had ever been to. All of the kids dressed up in "50's" attire, were dancing in little groups and then going around giggling. This was essentially their very first school dance. Beau was able to meet us at the school in order to attend this function so Emery was really happy about that. The majority of the parents either sat up in the bleachers or walked around trying to keep up with their kids. As soon as we walked in Emery found her two best friends and we definitely got our cardio in trying to keep up with all three. I honestly don't remember much from my first school dance. I think we had to dress up in the same style, but I don't think I had as much fun. I didn't even get up to dance. I've always been self-conscious of my body, even back then, and I think it kind of put a damper on a lot of things for me. Thankfully, this was not the case for Emery at all. 

As we sat up in the bleachers during a momentary break I sat back and watched her run around. She was beaming and laughing the entire time. She zoomed across the room to do a hula hoop contest and once that was done she was back at it with her friends dancing to the songs the DJ was playing. She played several games, and there were a lot of pictures being taken. Peace signs being thrown, and boys being chased. I was so happy watching her enjoy herself. She was surrounded by her friends, and actually getting out there in front of everyone too. She gets that from her dad, and I am so grateful. I leaned over to Beau and said, "She looks so grown up, doesn't she?" I'm pretty sure that I was tearing up as I watched her run around. "So, grown up," he replied. And we just sat there taking it all in. It's as if we were getting a little glimpse into the future. Somehow we blinked and our baby was no more. I reached over and squeezed his arm. He placed his hand on mine for a moment, and we just smiled as we watched her together. "MOM! DAD! WE HAVE TO GO TO THE OTHER BUILDING! THEY HAVE NACHOS AND COOKIES!! HURRY, LET'S GO!" Emery shouted over the music.  "WHAT?? NACHOS?!?! WELL WHAT ARE WE STILL DOING HERE?? LET'S GO!" Beau shouted back. We let go with a laugh, and off we went in search of their favorite food.

We left about ten minutes before the entire thing was over. Emery held onto her dad, and they skipped out into the parking lot. We said goodbye to a few people we knew as we made our way to the car. We gave hugs all around and said goodbye to Beau. On our way home, Emery said that she was happy we all got to go with her. She was sad that the night had to end, but not even halfway out of town she fell asleep in the back seat. Her little cat glasses thrown off to one side, one shoe off, and her scarf untied. A slight smile on her face, and a smudge of nacho cheese still on her chin. And there she was, my little baby again.  

Writing Prompt // Good Morning

Write about the first thing you see in the morning.

The first thing I see when I wake up is nothing. I’m practically blind without my contacts/glasses. So, I take a few heartbeats to just lay there and breathe. Emery is usually nestled into my side. I often complain that she needs to start sleeping in her own bed because she rolls so much. She’s also nine. I get smacked or kicked at least three times during the night. And even though I have a king size bed I always end up with only 10” of space. But if I’m being honest, I’ll probably cry when she finally agrees with me on sleeping in her own room. I already have a hard time sleeping as it is, and it just gets worse when I’m alone in my bed. As crazy as it may seem, there’s a lot of comfort in knowing that she’s right next to me. She runs hot so I can usually feel her body heat. I can hear her breathing. Sometimes she lets out these little snores, or she talks in her sleep. Softly, almost a whisper. I take that feeling of security, safety, and hold onto it for a few minutes.

I can normally tell that the room isn’t as dark as a few hours before, and I can hear Violet whining to be let out of her crate. I reach over onto my side drawer to grab my glasses. With a yawn, I put them on. I can see the soft glow of the hall nightlight. I hear Draco snoring loudly in the living room. My curtains are a light grey, and even though the sun hasn’t come up very far I can tell that it will be soon. “Alright little, it’s time to get up,” I say out loud. “Five more minutes,” she mumbles back as she rolls over. Taking the comforter with her. I sit up and swing my legs off the bed. Sighing I close my eyes. There’s a battle going on inside of my head. A part of me wants to get back into bed, snuggle up, and go back to sleep. The other part of me says there are bills to pay and mouths to feed. So, I open up my eyes again, and after a few blinks, I read the canvas on my wall. I re-read it. Violet’s whining gets louder, and I can hear Draco finally waking up. Stretching, and then his nails on the floor. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick Tick. 

I look back over my shoulder at Emery. Wishing I could be that little again. When the only thing on your mind at 6 AM was whether or not your mom was going to give you that extra five minutes. Ten if you were really lucky. And then I lift myself up, a greyish tint is covering the room, and I shuffle to find my sliders. I slowly make my way to Violet, and let her out. Opening the back door I shuffle the dogs out. “C’ mon guys. Outside.” I can see the dark green grass as I lean against the door. One neighbor has their kitchen light on and the other is being picked up by their co-worker. It smells like morning and wet earth. Everything outside is still relatively quiet and our neighborhood hasn't fully woken up yet. And this is probably my favorite time of the day. Normally, I rush through all of this. Always running late; always in a hurry. But then there are days when I pay attention. When I take it all in and soak it up. I give thanks for another morning. Then I close the door on that stillness and open the one full of chaos. 

Wordless Wednesday