Last week we had a little Christmas Cookie decorating party at my house. I didn’t get to do my traditional dinner party this year, so I threw together a little shindig for a few of my stay at home mom pals. It was mass chaos. And terribly fun. We played all.day.long. No joke! Here’s the deal about play dates, in my opinion – you don’t REALLY do anything different than you would be doing at home. In all of these pics, mommies are still being mommies – giving orders and herding children. And talking with each other in short abbreviated conversations that never quite get finished because a fit happens or someone shoves someone off Giffy the giraffe [Miss Magnificent may or may not have been the culprit in that one] and so the unfinished convo floats off to rest with all the other unfinished convos you’ve been a part of in the past few years. And somehow, you’re fine with that, because it’s not that you’re getting down time. Or “you” time, which doesn’t exist post children, for the record. But you ARE doing life alongside other women who love Jesus and love you and love your baby[ies].
And that makes all the difference in the world.
This one cracks me slap up! Is there some girl talk going on or what?!
Documentation of the damage done/fun had…whichever way you’d like to look at it 🙂
The “big” girls wanted to be little for a while.
My friend, LaurieAnn referred to us as her “village.” You know the ole’ saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Here’s what I’ve discovered, though – it takes a village to, I don’t know, gather the strength to get out of bed sometimes. Or regroup after a break up. Or fall back on your knees before the Lord after a season of running. It takes a village to do life, people.
So my word to you is this: Muster up the courage, the will power, the time, the chicken salad, the coffee to have some gals in your home – no matter their stage of life, or your own, and start formin’ yourself a village. It ain’t gonna pop up all by itself. And you need one. Seriously. You know you do. You can feel it. But you don’t want to be the one to do it. Put on your big girl panties and do it anyway. You won’t regret it!
Tomorrow is craft show and tell day with links to all the corresponding tutorials because, people, I am not nearly creative enough to come up with much by myself.
Keep on keepin’ it down and dirty. Love y’all like crazy!