Dancing on Tuesday.....

On any given day.....at any hour.....you can know that things are very crazy at this house.  Admittedly, I have condoned much of it....and added to it....but please know this.  I do not love chaos.  I tolerate it.  I have respect for it.  I even celebrate it sometimes....but I do not love it.  We have a regularly chaotic living situation.  Being a working mom, with a husband who has a rather high-demand job.....and 5 kids who are active in lots of different things...and 2 dogs, one of which is a feisty puppy.....just know that if you "drop by" (which seldom happens for good reasons).....brace yourself.

Yesterday, I was in the bathroom getting ready to go to a high school basketball game.  Claire wanted to be there for the girls game and then danced at half time of the boys.  I agreed to take her (no school permit yet) and a friend....and dad would stay home with the other kiddos.  I didn't have time to shower after working out and working.....I wanted to(believe me) but everyone needed something every minute.....and so some body spray and make-up and hair product and clean jeans had to do it.

Ten minutes....tops.....I was in the bathroom.  The boys were at swim team.  Claire was working on a project at a friend's house.  Roger was at work and Joe was on the couch with an Ipad.  Precious Maryn was dancing.  She was in that mood where you need to move.....and hear music.....loudly.  She clears the area of our kitchen floor and blares music and dances often.  She's rather good.  She chose a pandora setting that was soft rock/lyrical and I listened to the pleasant music from the bathroom as I did a bandaid job with my appearance....at 5:30pm.

Precious peeked around the bathroom door and said...."mom......something happened".  (This.....is a heavy phrase for her).  She showed me the palms of her hands which were covered with red glitter.  Next....she lifted her foot.....also covered....with red glitter.  Deep.   Breath.  "Precious.....what happened with the glitter?"      her:  "I dropped it"......

I took a deep breath and followed her to the kitchen.  She not only dropped the bottle of red glitter....she danced in it.  She rolled in it.  She made sure it covered my little kitchen floor.....and I imagine (because I did not witness it) that it was a beautiful, lyrical routine of movement and glitter and freedom......until her conscience grabbed hold of her and she realized that she either needed to confess or be exposed.

She chose well.  By showing me, it was a containable problem.....but I did get a few scolding words in as I swept up the billions of glitter....and as I was sweeping I was silently wishing she had not confessed.  I wish I could have just peeked around the wall and watched her dance in the glitter in the kitchen....because it would have been so beautiful.  It was messy.  Chaotic.....even naughty....but can you blame her for seizing the moment and just dancing in the glitter?  I cannot.

I may be 40 plusyears older than my little girl....but I am thinking about her dancing in the red glitter in the kitchen and I am a bit jealous.  I would love a moment to "dance in the glitter" myself somehow.  somewhere.......sometime.....and know that eventually I would have to answer for it but it would be worth the clean up to live in the moment.

It may be a stretch for some to imagine their own version of "dancing in the glitter".....but I think it is a good challenge to wonder......what does it look like for me and for you....to just throw caution to the wind and accept whatever consequence comes and live in the moment and dance in the glitter......

My daughter Precious inspires me.  She also exhausts me and pushes all of my buttons but she has a very magical and magnificent quality about her that God himself planted deep within her.  When I have my wits about me, I can recognize those God-ordained moments and not scold her but rather marvel at it....and celebrate the beauty of her......dancing in the glitter in the kitchen was one of those.