Shannon Visits

Shannon and her kids came to visit this weekend. We had a great time- albeit a little hectic with five kids in the house! It was a far cry from the old days at Club Med- late nights dancing, drinking, and partying, sleeping late, and spending all day lounging in the hot sun. The closest we came to "lounging" was sitting around the family room eating Ben and Jerry's (yeah... I still had a little left from Mother's Day) and watching Music and Lyrics while hoping that none of the children woke up. Late nights? Let's see... does waking up at 3AM with a barfy kid count? Or pacing with a crying baby? Partying was not in the picture, unless you count the hour and a half we spent out to lunch trying to keep four kids (Tanner was at school) happy and ferrying them back and forth to the restroom. Drinking? Let's see... we both had several diet cokes and poured many glasses of apple juice. And sleeping late? What's that again?

I reread this and it sounds like I am bitter or missing the old days.... but reality is this is what Shannon and I both always dreamed of as we lay there on the sandy beaches of Mexico. This family life is what we both were looking for all along. Yeah... a few days of R and R away from the kids would be nice, and maybe Shannon and I will get to do that together again someday soon (Brian and Matthew willing, of course) but this weekend was wonderful. We got to be moms together and enjoy our kids laughter as they forged their friendship. We got to laugh and shake our heads and compare notes and support each other in our days (and nights) of crazy chaos. Motherhood is not something you should do in isolation. It does take a village. This visit reminded me of why Shannon and I are such good friends... even 700 miles apart :)