I pulled the car into the bank’s parking lot and I asked for any volunteers, who is coming with me? My kids thought for a minute, then asked: Will we get in trouble? Are we allowed to? What if my friends drive by and see us?
Finally, they proclaim with honesty, Mom, you are crazy!
My youngest is the only one who shared my sentiment and we prepared to dash out of the car and run carelessly through the bank's sprinklers. Sure, the bank tellers would look out the window and wonder what is this lunatic mom doing with her son- but- we didn't care! Emmet and I ran out of the car and sprinted onto the lawn of the bank. We ran through the first sprinkler and our clothes were dampened with the cold water. We headed straight towards sprinkler number two as we laughed out loud. This one was aimed a bit higher and my hair got soaked as Emmet jumped up to meet the water. Cars were driving honking as they drove by. My teenage daughter was taking pictures from the car. We giggled, we smiled and we were happy. Cold, wet and happy.
For a few minutes, I was 100% in the moment. Wild used to mean dancing until 3 a.m. at bars. Today it means running through sprinklers and forgetting the dishes in the sink.
Memories are made in wild times. The good wild is what I am after in motherhood. Good wild is saying forget your bedtime lets sing karaoke for a little longer. Good wild is picking up the kids early from school to surprise them with a girls’ day they will never forget. Good wild is letting your 7-year-old son use your makeup. On himself. Because, well, why not! Good wild makes memories.
The truth is, life is short and difficult. Life can knock the wind out of us over and over again and we can trudge through the motions of being a mom, wife, employee, friend and feel like it is all too much. Sometimes we wonder, when will this get easier? Sometimes we want to quit- quit doing the laundry, quit going to work, quit sacrificing to keep your family afloat.
But we never do.
We keep going. We dust ourselves off and we try again. We make it through the stressful moments and we embrace our wild ones. The wild ones make memories to last a lifetime. Memories to dull the pain when the world is heavy on our shoulders. Memories to chuckle at during the hardest of days and memories to remind us that we are damn good moms.
We may have 5 years left on this earth or 85, but I promise you the end will come too soon. And when it does, we will be wishing we had more wild moments, more intimate memories, more laughs, and more 100%-in-the-moment-screw work and forget-the-laundry-and-homework moments. Make those moments happen now. Dig deep, find your wild, and unleash the motherfu$^@#!
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