Where you are, I was; where I am, you hope to be.

It was a very busy weekend. The long weekend is always full of lots and lots of kids. All the activities that go with kids, and all the food that kids love. The first long weekend of the summer is usually the time most people plant their gardens and their flowers. It is patio season openings and cold beer drinking. Well, maybe not so much when you have kids, but I am pretty sure someone was on a patio drinking a cold beer with friends..lol.

Over the weekend we had some friends over; friends with kids. You know what that means? If you don’t know what it means, I will tell you. It means cooking your meal with kids asking you for a glass of this and a cup of that. It means trying to calm kids down from their sugar rush from all the desert, the ice cream and the pop they happen to sneak.

Having a meal is just not the same once you have kids. Using a knife to cut your steak is a luxury because that means you do not have a kid on your lap, or close enough to your plate. Drinking a glass of wine is also something that just “changes.” The wine is the same, but for some reason it just does not go down as smooth as it once did when we were without children. But just the same, we drink it.

The day was fun and almost accident free, until the end of the night when my guests went home and my son was outside trying to get every ounce of sunshine that was left, when I suddenly heard a scream and then a “Oh my God...mommy, mommy, mommy!!!” I ran to see what had happened and I see Joseph holding his nose. Apparantly Joseph’s friend fell on his nose and face, and blood was streaming down his nose and from his lips. “Great”. Thankfully he was ok and all the kids finally had lights out.

The next day it was another “What the heck are we going to do today with the kids?” So I decided to take them to my aunt’s house. When we arrived, we were greeted by my aunt, uncle, and my 2 cousins. We sat and just began to chat. The kids were running around playing with the sprinkler and filling up water balloons, and the rest of us were sitting around the outdoor patio set. My cousin Victoria (who is 20) was chatting about life and what she was planning to do for the night. I just looked at my kids running amuck and I laughed. She then asked me, “Don’t you wish you were 20 again?” and I very quickly said, “NO WAY!” My aunt began to laugh because she “got it”. Victoria was very puzzled. She was curious to know why I would not want to be young again. I then explained to her, “I have been where you are, I do not want to go there again. That means I would have to do the whole “getting my first job” thing, “finishing school thing”, and then the “marriage thing”, “baby thing”, and I would have to start all over again.” I explained to her that I am looking forward to raising my kids, to watch them grow into adults. My aunt said, “Vic, she wishes she was me right now”..lol. and I laughed and I agreed. Victoria was confused because she thought it was weird that I didn’t want to be younger and that I looked forward to being 50. Anyone with kids gets it.

We don’t want to fast forward their little lives. We want to enjoy every God given day with them, but we definitely do not want to go backwards. We look forward to celebrating their graduation day with them. We look forward to celebrating their wedding day with them, and we look forward to celebrating the birth of their own children.

I do not look at these young girls that I see and wish I was them. Ok I admit, I miss having the little legs, and butt they have, but I do not want to be there again. I am happy with the days I am living. I am happy with the experiences I have gained along the way. I wish I knew then what I know now, because that’s the funny thing about being young; life does get better. Life changes and you learn to appreciate all the things you may have thought were boring 10 years before.

While we were sitting outside yesterday my cousin still didn’t get it. She thought that I should be envious of her fun free filled life. She thought that I would rather be sipping a glass of wine on a patio downtown. She thought that I would rather be making plans to go up North with my friends, she thought I would have rather been with single friends over the weekend and not friends with kids, and she thought I would rather be 20 years old. She will understand one day that we do not wish to go back. She will understand one day that we were her, not so long before. She will understand that a weekend with friends and family is a good weekend. She will understand that we really do love our life with kids and chaos. I looked at my confused cousin and said the words that my own father said to me once, “Where you are, I was; Where I am you can only hope to be.”
That’s my peace today!

Grilled Veggies with Shrimp (optional)
2 zucchini
1 eggplant
2 carrots
1 red onion
1 cup mushrooms
1/2 broccoli
1/2 cauliflower
1 cup olive oil
4 tbsp balsamic vinigar
salt and pepper
1 bunch chopped basil
2 tbsp oil and garlic (set aside)
Shrimp (Optional)

Cut or slice all veggies any shape you like. Put all veggies, shrimp (optional),and basil in a large bowl. Toss with oil and balsamic. Marinate for an hour in the fridge. Pour into a bbq veggie basket and grill for 15 minutes or until cooked but still somewhat crunchy. Remove from grill and add a little drizzle of oil and chopped garlic.