Of Conga Lines and Kids

Chris and I were fairly laid back about our wedding planning. And by 'we', I mean 'me', because is any guy high maintenance about wedding planning?

Which is not to say that I wasn't involved or didn't care. I did. But I didn't stress about it. I just thought it was the best kind of fun to look at flowers and try on pretty dresses and eat lots of sampler plates of delicious food. So when the florist delivered the wrong boutonnieres for the men? I didn't even notice. Apparently the bride at the other wedding really, really did.

There was, however, one thing we did both feel strongly about, and we made it clear to our DJ:

There is to be NO Conga line at the wedding.

I don't know why we felt like this except that it seemed to evoke cheesy weddings from an 80's episode of 'America's Funniest Home Video's. And not that we're particularly high-brow, but, you know...you've got to draw the line somewhere.

Flash-forward to now: E has become enamored of our wedding video. When she has screen time, she wants the wedding video and nothing else. Specifically, the parts with 'wild dancing'.

And in watching the 'wild dancing', I have had occassion to re-live--on a daily basis--our Conga line. Yep, you heard me: we had a Conga line.

Chris's Aunt Pam, who is the type of person who is so fabulously fun, and who you love so much that they can get away with anything, got into the DJ's good graces. And then she convinced him that we weren't really serious about that whole 'no conga line' thing. And then suddenly there was a line of people dancing around the room to the lyrics, 'I'm hot! You're hot!

Oh, yes. It was glorious.

And you know what's funny? That Conga line is my favorite part of the video. As it was one of my favorite parts of the reception. Because everyone was smiling and laughing and embodying 'wild abandon.' Because even my mom was throwing her arms up in the air like she just didn't care. Because we were all doing it together.

And it makes me laugh every single time we watch. The thing I was sure I didn't want, is my very favorite memory of all.

Sometimes I think parenting is like that. I wake up in the morning and I think, "NO conga lines!" You know, I have my list of things we should do and when we should do them. Of laundry to be folded and emails to be sent and errands to be run.

But then the kiddos get themselves in the good graces of life's DJ, and suddenly it's time to dance or get off the floor.

And when I dance...when I just follow the moment and forget my plans: put down my phone and pay attention to a make-believe ball, skip the planned bookstore trip and laugh at the afternoon melty's (a more palatable descriptive term than meltdowns), or put down my book and read to them some of theirs...we make the best memories of all.

When I look back at each day, I'm always happiest when I've let a little Conga line in:a little messy, a lot of flexible, and an extra helping of feeling happy to just be together.

So now, when my life starts to get a little crazy, I close my eyes and think, "I'm hot. You're hot." And with a bounce in my step, I go on my way, knowing that these are the moments I'll probably end up treasuring the most.
*****

Afternoon melty's? What afternoon melty's?