I love to dance.
My girls love to dance.
My husband . . . does not love to dance. But even he has been known to shake, shake, shake it when his oldest daughter implores, "Daddy! Come dance!"
Having only had two years of formal instruction in the art of dance allows me the complete and utter freedom to make up for my lack of technical training with unbridled enthusiasm, a la Elaine Benes. Because I am mindful of the good taste of the public-at-large, my Lordess of the Dance glory is confined to the privacy of my home.
Dancing ministers most to me and my girls when things are kind of yucky.
- Doing the dishes is not the highlight of my day. The SortaCrunchy Cottage lacks a dishwasher, so I get to spend more time at the sink than ever before. A little move and groove keeps me distracted from the drudgery.
- Regular housework? Not a fan. I've been known to add a little jump and jive to the dusting, and I'm pretty sure that counts towards activity points for the day.
- Each of my girls are prone to melting down a bit during the witching hour, and I've found my best defense is to get them in the kitchen for some dance therapy while I get dinner thrown together.
Some days I wake up on the yucky side of the bed, in desperate need of both coffee and forward positive thinking. I've recently rediscovered a site that helps me find my groove mentally as I begin each new day with my girls. Scott Noelle's EnjoyParenting.com encourages parents to, well, find ways to enjoy the days of parenting by providing tiny but powerful nuggets of inspiration in the form of The Daily Groove.
The Daily Groove email appears in my inbox each morning. Taking twenty seconds to read and reflect on his encouragement for the day has become a fixture in my morning routine (which, on a good day, starts with coffee, the Bible, and prayer; a not-as-good days starts with coffee and twitter). His wisdom for parents is never condemning and always seeks to inspire parents to transform their mental outlook from "I think today might be the day I run away from home" to "I think today will be the day I will be fully cognizant of the amazing people my children are becoming." Or something like that.
Is Joy Knocking on Your Door? is one of my most favorite recent entries, one that really helps me daily to reconnect with my mama groove.
What about you? Do you sometimes get out-of-synch with the parenting thing? When? Why? What helps you get back in the groove?
photo by ben matthews
(while I wish I could take credit for the title, I can't. Fans of PBS Kids will recognize this line as the way Sid the Science Kid's friend May introduces herself each episode)
