This weekend, I took
Marie to the Taylor Swift 1989 World Tour concert for her 9th
birthday.
It was awesome to see
her light up when Taylor took the stage . . .
and then again when Dan Reynolds from
Imagine Dragons took the stage – EEK!!
Going to this concert
filled me up in a soul-satisfying kind of way. I felt light and happy, and the
good kind of exhausted.
To see that kind of joy
in her eyes, those same eyes that harbor anxiety will forever be burned into my
memory.
I also will remember the
breezy, delicious feeling of being The Fun Parent.
Ah, The Fun Parent.
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| Look at me! I'm the fun parent! Also, thank you to the super fans that were behind us. Your homemade light up signs were not only awesomely creative, but gave great backlighting! |
I don’t often let my fun
parent flag fly. It’s hard to when I’m
always! being! responsible!
Meal planning.
Groceries.
Pack lunches.
Make dinner.
Laundry.
Homework.
Plan activities.
Take them to said
activities.
The never-ending bedtime
routine.
Then there is the worry
that comes along with motherhood. I
worry about if I am doing it right.
Forget about right, am I doing it just good enough to avoid making
mistakes that result in irreparable damages?
When I see the world
through my children’s eyes, I am often reminded of my childhood wounds of being
bullied and feeling like I would never fit in. I worry a lot about making sure my
children are emotionally healthy to deal with an emotionally unhealthy world.
But then there are flashes
when I remember the magic of my own childhood.
Taking Marie to this concert brought back my memories of my first
concert: Madonna’s Who’s that Girl Tour in 1987.
My mom, dad, brother,
and I along with another family sat in the nosebleed seats of the now destroyed
Pontiac Silverdome. I was about 10 years
old, and I will never forget her singing “Open Your Heart” in her black teddy
with gold tassels on her boobs.
It was awesome!
I remember that rush of
seeing someone who was (and still is) bigger! than! life! I listened to her cassette tapes over and
over on my Fisher Price tape recorder and there she was – in person – singing
those songs. Mind. Blown.
I easily get caught up
in all of the hardships of motherhood.
But reminiscing about my first concert reminds me that fun should to be
a priority. Not just something fun for
the them, the kids, but fun for all of us.
At the Taylor Swift
concert, that heavy feeling of accountability melted away, and we were
two people in the moment having genuine fun together.
In between those spaces
of obligations and duties, memories are made.
The good kind of memories. The
kind that create bonds.
Marie might never
remember the hours I sat in the stands watching her swim meets or the daily effort
that went into packing her lunches.
But I am hoping that she
forever remember staying out until 1am dancing at the Taylor Swift concert, eating popcorn
and dipping dots with her mom.
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I know that I will.
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