Sunday Funday

We have a new tradition here at Casa Milligan. We call it Sunday Funday and it goes a little something like this: Every Sunday at around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, we turn on Jimmy Buffett radio (courtesy of Pandora), start mixing up margaritas, and we dance around the house as we make dinner and close out the weekend. We blast the music and sing along to Brown Eyed Girl (except we change the words to Blue Eyed Girl since we are usually singing to The Boss Lady) and It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere (has there ever been a song with more truer words spoken??). Sometimes we hold Oli in our arms and whisk her all over the kitchen and living room. Sometimes she stands between us bouncing up and down to the beat. Sunday Fundays are extremely casual too. You'll usually find Mike and me in shorts and t-shirts and Oli in just a diaper.

Sunday Fundays came about a few weeks ago when Mike said "We need more margaritas in this house!" Well, you don't have to tell me twice! Ha! We just realized that sometimes Sundays can be a little 'blah' because they are the signal of the impending work week. We just wanted a way to make them more fun and celebratory. So we do!

About two Sundays ago, as we sat down to eat dinner, No Woman, No Cry, playing softly in the background, Mike asked if I thought we have more fun than most other people. I don't really know. But, I do know that we have A LOT of fun in our house.

Sure, we have our bad days. For instance, a couple of weeks ago on both Saturday and Sunday I had mini-meltdowns because Olivia was being so clingy that I literally could do NOTHING without being fussed at. It was pretty unpleasant. She really perfected her Clingy Spider Monkey act. And some days I'm so worn out that I have to drink 4 cups of coffee to keep from falling asleep standing up.

For the most part though, we have a really good time with our life. Even on the bad days, we seem to rally and push the re-set button. Having fun with this life has become a way of life for us.

A couple of months ago, a friend told me that it seemed that motherhood had been easy for me. I can't remember the exact wording but basically, by reading this blog and probably some of my Facebook statuses, she had come to the conclusion that my journey in this crazy Land of Parenthood had been easy. When I told Mike this, I was shocked. Easy? Where on earth was she getting that idea?

Mike pointed out that, when I write, I almost always have something humorous to say and I try to find the bright spot and that's probably how she got that idea. Furthermore, he said, motherhood had been fairly easy for me. But not because the chips had somehow miraculously fallen right into place. Mike reminded me of the fun in our life. He reminded me that we always find the silver lining, the thing that makes life fun and interesting and sometimes hilarious. That's what has made motherhood "easy" for me.

Here's the thing though: mine and Mike's life hasn't always been easy. We both lost our dads before their time. Mine lost his battle with cancer and Mike's dad was killed tragically in a car accident at the hands of drunk driver. These two men didn't leave this earth without leaving us with an invaluable way of looking at life though. They never knew each other, but Doug Milligan and Bill Grady, probably would have been great friends. They LOVED life.

No matter what situation you put them in, no matter who they were with, or how much money they had, they made the best of everything. There was not a situation they could not find a way to be happy in. We strive to embrace that part of our dads. The way we look at it is this: We have a choice every single day when we wake up. We can either mourn the lives of those we've lost or let the upsets from the past get us down, OR we can live THIS life. This one life. This one chance we get to make it count. And we make it count big time.

We embrace the crazy. There are a lot of things in this life we can't control. We've mostly stopped trying. When Oli was born, I thought I could keep everything exactly like it was before she got here. I thought I could control every outcome, every emotion, every event that happened in our lives. I got the wake up call of a lifetime when I realized I wasn't really in control at all. And I really hadn't ever been.

I had a choice when that realization struck. I could fight it, still trying to maintain my illusion of control. Or I could let go, get messy, and have a lot more fun. I let motherhood change me. I opened my heart, my mind, and I let go. I made a choice to just be in the moment. Because that's all you get. I CHOOSE this circus life of mine.

As I often am along this journey, I'm struck by the correlation of my experiences in motherhood and my experience in my faith life. When I became a Christian, when I really embraced my faith, I had two choices then too. I could choose to keep living life as I had been before I let God into my life. But then what would have been the point? The choice I made, made me nervous. It meant giving up control. I chose to let my relationship with God change me. I chose to let it make me better. I still choose it everyday.

In the same way that I'll some day teach Oli about making good choices, I remember that same lesson for my life now.

So, instead of worrying about the laundry that needs to be done or the fact that The Boss Lady has scattered toys and Tupperware around every room of my house, I'll toast with my sweet husband on Sunday afternoon, turn up the volume, grab Oli, and dance.

*I could NOT figure out a way to flip this video but it was too cute not to share!