Overheard

The girls were in the tub last night, and Patrick was attempting to remove a ponytail holder from Josie's very tangled/somewhat damp mess of hair, without ripping it all out. (A task I didn't envy him, in the least. They played hard yesterday, much of it outside, and some of it in the kiddie pool in the backyard. Beautiful, long, flowing hair is great - if you've got a stylist on the payroll to take care of it.) It was taking a while, and I could tell patience was running thin from everyone involved. Pat muttered something like, "geez, we're gonna need a Jaws of Life to get this thing out..."

Josie sighed, and responded, "Daddy - are we gonna need to call in Mommy?"

Another 4th of July has come, and gone. We had a pretty low-key weekend in town. The neighbors didn't seem to go nearly as crazy with the fireworks as in years past, or perhaps my tolerance level has grown now that the girls don't wake up in tears from the annoying pops, crackles and mini-booms. This was the first year we let the girls stay up late and take in an actual fireworks display. We packed up some snacks and our blanket and headed downtown to scope out a spot across the river from Harriet Island, where the Taste of Minnesota has their annual festival and fireworks. (Sidenote - I LOVE big fireworks shows. It actually pains me a little the years when we're out of town and can't see a "real" fireworks display on the 4th. Small towns try, but just can't really compare.)

We scored a spot on the river side of Shepard Road near the Science Museum, and got down there a couple of hours early, so brought bubbles and a ball, coloring books and popcorn, all of which worked perfectly to keep the girls entertained while we waited. Our spot actually ended up being pretty much directly underneath the fireworks. IT. WAS. AWESOME. As Patrick and I sat on our blanket, each with a girl on our laps staring up at the sky with complete and utter amazement - I realized that as much as I love to watch fireworks, I loved watching their reactions even more. I whispered to Josie, "which ones are your favorite?" To which she answered, "ALL of them." Eve wanted her ears covered, and when I placed my hands over the sides of her head, she contentedly settled back against me, and didn't take her eyes off the sky again.

There's this intangible, indescribable thing that happens in moments like that, which I wish I could somehow capture in a bottle and present to couples who can't decide if they want to have kids or not - for a little extra push, if they are meant to have a family of their own. Solid, indisputable PROOF that giving up the freedom of a "just the two of us" life is so frickin' worth it. I'm never one to push an opinion, or even ask about when or if a couple is going to start a family, especially because I remember all too well the annoyance during our first 4-ish years of being married of being asked when we were going to have kids, and I don't ever, ever want to inflict that same annoyance on anyone with such a personal decision. What I have come to learn is that the moments like that one on the blanket, the weight of a warm little body filling my lap - waiting patiently and trusting that they were going to witness some sort of miraculous event, SO surpasses all the frustrations and "limitations" that (someone without kids thinks) parenthood brings. But, unfortunately, it is something that can't truly be captured in a bottle, or with words, it just has to be experienced.