Eating the Icing First

The other day CK and I went to get cupcakes (shocker, I know).

We sat down in the booth and as soon as she got the paper off of hers, she dove right in - icing first.  I laughed as I realized I eat my cupcakes the exact opposite... I eat part of the bottom/cake portion, saving the top/icing half for last.  Saving the best for last, in my opinion.  But not my Cameron Kate.  Girl knows the icing is where it's at and goes right in for what she wants, not holding back.

Isn't that how kids are?  They don't wait to live their lives - they don't save the best bite for last.  They aren't always postponing something until this happens, or until that is finally done.

Why can't we be more like that?  Why can't I be more like that?

I am SUCH a planner.  To a fault.  Everyone who knows me will tell you.  And while it does benefit our family in a lot of ways, and while I believe I do have to be a planner to an extent to be a successful matriarch of our four-person family, sometimes a lot of times it's a little much.  Like I even plan how I'm going to eat my meals so that I save the best bite for last.

Recently, a friend said she wanted to have us over for dinner.  It sounded so fun, so I quickly agreed!  And then I told her we would love to have them over, too, as soon as I felt like we were a little less frazzled around these parts.  Her exact words:  "Girl, if I wait until our lives are in order I will never have anybody over again."

She was SO right.  I'm always thinking, "Ok, well, we can do (a) once (b) is finished."  And while that may be appropriate and necessary in some circumstances, it should not be the case when it comes to LIVING YOUR LIFE.

Who cares if many of our walls still remain undecorated, a year-and-a-half into our move?  Who cares if we still haven't unpacked our suitcases from our Labor Day travels?  Who cares if I didn't get a chance to mop the floor this week?

At this stage of parenting with CK, I feel like I'm constantly trying to use moments as lessons, trying to impart my motherly wisdom (ha!) on her.  When really, there is so much I can learn from my girl.  So much.

I'm going to that friend's house for dinner in a couple weeks and am already finding a date to have them over, too.  And tonight I plan on opening a special bottle of wine I've been saving... because I'm not even sure what I've been saving it for?  And moving forward, I really am going to try to live a little more like my almost-four-year-old.  

And you should try it, too.  Be a kid... even for just a moment... It really changes everything ~

Dance whenever the mood strikes you, always say yes to fun adventures, don't take yourself too seriously... eat the icing first.

"Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind.  The real you is loving, joyful, and free.  The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun." Don Miguel Ruiz