Dirty Diapers

Night 4 of our time at the lake, the professional organizer and I had a bit of a surprise. At 1 am our door handle began rattling and finally opened to the youngest child of the HR guru and the hip dad walking in. He’s about a year old (give or take) with red hair and a round child figure. A bit confused, we asked him what was up and we greeted with the response, “I want this.” In his hand were those snack packs of cheese and crackers. If only life was that simple for us: 1 am, I’m hungry, my parents are asleep, I know where the food is and those two ‘new’ people’s light is on in the room across the hall…

Of course we opened the crackers and took him back into his parents’ room to find that they were not only asleep they were OUT… out as in so far asleep nothing could wake them. This is all well and good as we placed him in his bed with his snack and began reading bedtime stories (by the way – they’ve changed since I was a kid and are much more PC now). So far, so good. The kids happy, the parents are asleep and it looks as though he’s going to pass out at any minute. Then comes the look…

Anyone who has taken care of kids knows that look, a slight turning up of the lips, a widening of the eyes with a little twinkle and then the eye-brows go up before all of it gets scrunched together and you hear it… thwap. A poopy diaper.

It’s been almost 17 years since I changed a diaper. I tried to wake up his mother, the HR guru, I looked at the professional organizer and then resigned to my fate; a dirty diaper at 2 am. Granted, the kid loves his getting his diaper changed, I mean who wouldn’t: you have someone’s undivided attention, you’re getting cleaned up and best of all - you don’t have to do it yourself. At least he was cooperative and responded well to my questions, “Is that right?” (the saddest part was that at 2 am, I expected a logical response from a one-year old.)

In the end, I was reminded of the times I changed my brother and fell asleep with a smile knowing that 1) I can still do it when I have to; 2) I know at least one person was appreciative of something I did for them that day; and 3) I’ll be ready if kids ever come up for me in my future.

Establishing Traditions

I often find myself wondering how modern day “traditions” come into existence. We have plenty of examples of traditions that just ‘are’: fireworks on the 4th of July (in the US; other countries have their own national day celebrations with fireworks); Christmas trees; turkey on Thanksgiving (again another US [and maybe Canadian] custom), but what really gets me are those smaller more intimate traditions that sneak up on you. Case in point:

I just spent my fifth July 4th weekend with my cousins (the TV producer and the word genius) at their lake house in Virginia. Like every other year we were joined by my other cousins (the professional organizer, the HR guru, the hip dad and their kids [as of yet too young to have identifying names on my blog.]) What get’s me is that this has become my tradition. Granted, it has been going on much longer than 5 years, but I am lucky enough to be included in this amazing activity…

What makes it so great is not only the company and the amazing atmosphere, but the comfort of knowing that every year this is what I am going to be doing. The invitation is open, the activities are always the same and the pressure is off. Sure, a lot of planning and preparation goes into having a total of 6 adults and 2 kids in a house, but once were there it all just… flows.

We spend countless hours lounging in or by the lake, eat (too much), drink (just enough), listen to great music, and most importantly enjoy each others’ company. It is the only time, in recent years, that we have all been together and it is for the right reasons; enjoyment, not trauma. Regardless of the baggage that is brought to the lake (unfinished work, personal stresses, emotional upsets, etc.) for the time we are there, none of it matters and by the end the support of the “family” has made those ‘little’ issues seem appropriately smaller.

I may not always be able to recognize when traditions become traditions, but I hope that all of them are as enjoyable and beneficial as my annual weekend with my awesome cousins at the lake!