Friday, December 9, 2011

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk!!


They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I didn't take a picture, so I'll have to create the scene with words instead.

It was late morning. The twins were sitting at the bar, finishing their school work. Since it is winter, and I'm feeling festive I offered to make everyone a hot drink. The orders were coming in fast a furious. "Cider- no, hot chocolate, with a candy cane!" "I want 6 small mallows in mine." "Honey, I'll take the Starbucks hot chocolate made with milk, please." Elyse was crying over her missed Spelling words, and the fact that she'd have to write them each 5 times, proclaiming that, no likes her she's in the 3rd grade and I can't spell! She was to preoccupied with her crisis to order up a beverage. I looked up from the weeping mass that was my 3rd grader, only to see that her younger sister had tied one end of a scarf to a bar stool and the other end to the Baker's rack, and was trying her best to Limbo under it without falling. It really was all I could do to keep myself from laughing, long and loud.

Meanwhile, my son was recounting for me that Ramon, one of the contestants on The Biggest Loser, used to order 20 Soft Tacos when he went to Taco Bell. Wanting never to miss a teachable moment, and because my sweet son loves numbers, I proceeded to tell him that a Soft Taco is $1.59 and that Ramon spent over $30, just on one meal at Taco Bell and that didn't even include his drink. Armed with that juicy nugget of information, his eyes grew wide as he declared that eating too much is really EXPENSIVE!

Then it happened, as I was chuckling at the chaos around me I heard a hiss and a sizzle. My milk had boiled over. Don't cry over spilled milk came to my mind, immediately.

Seldom, do I just embrace the mess along with the moment, but for once, I did. I let the scorching, curdling, white globs on my stove teach me a lesson. Messes can be cleaned up, but moments can never be re-captured.

I'm going to try to remember to live in the moment, especially during the holidays, when added stresses make me a little less likely to stop and smell the roses.

I'm going to try to remember to smell the Evergreen, relish the sights, savor the tastes, absorb the sounds and feel the warmth and goodwill that only this season can bring.

So, here's to merry memory making!!!!!!

Cheers...