Monaloca

Like so many folks this time of year, we had a busy weekend planned. Melina and I had a yoga moms holiday party Friday afternoon, followed immediately by picking up Joey and Kai for a potluck with my Berkeley moms group. Saturday we had a kindergarten fair for Kai, a hypnobirthing reunion brunch, and a trip to Roseville in the evening for the Hams’ annual winetasting party. That’s four parties in just a little over 24 hours.

As if that weren’t enough, we wanted to squeeze in decorating our tree as a family. I had visions of hanging ornaments, listening to Elvis sing Christmas tunes (I thank my buddy Rich for that), and sipping hot cocoa or peppermint tea – one of my favorites that Kai also recently discovered. For a brief delusional moment I thought we might also have time to bake some gingerbread.

By Saturday afternoon both Joey and I realized we hadn’t showered in two days, and we hadn’t bathed either kid. Our garbage cans still sat on the curb from their Thursday morning pickup. And dishes from the workweek filled the sink.

He was the first to say “no” to driving to Roseville that evening. I was bummed but reluctantly agreed. We both needed to come up for air then settle into some downtime.

We did decorate the tree together – Kai had a blast as Melina watched from her Jumparoo – and lit up our masterpiece just in time for the electricity to go out. Elvis grew silent and Kai kept pushing buttons and flipping switches in the hopes of getting the DVD player to play Frosty the Snowman. It didn’t come on in time for him to watch, but did in time for a quiet dinner at home after he was back at his mom’s and Joey and I had the space to unwind.

And now here I sit on a surprisingly mellow Sunday afternoon, sipping peppermint tea and listening to Elvis as I type my blog, Joey surfs the Web, and the Jelly Bean naps. Clutter still fills the house, but we’re at peace.

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