Bungee-jumping, a 2nd birthday, a baptism and me with Maury Povich.

Do you bungee? I never have. But I do it every single day. Most of us moms do.

I don’t even know where to begin. The last week has been a blur… somewhere in it, LadyP turned 2 (TWO?!? — yes, I weep as I write this), we Christened our 7-month old LilMiss (more weeping) and I flew to New York to do a segment about ‘hidden germs in kid-friendly places’ on The Maury Show. (Yes, the DNA-testing, lie-detecting, “You-Are-NOT-The-Father!” Maury POVICH show.) Talk about a crazy range of events. (And the week leading up to this wasn’t exactly a cake-walk.) The fact that Maury Povich’s name is even included in the same post as my daughters’ birthdays and baptisms is confusing to me. What day is it again? No time to think about that.

*BUNGEE*

THIS is being a mom. Not knowing what you’re doing, where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, what is going to be on the other side… and who’s going to watch your children in the meantime. Yet you smile and do it. Or at least I do. Somewhere in the smile, things get figured out and organized. As I like to say, “Stupider people than me have done this.” The weird part is that I actually manage to have fun (probably just by triggering those smile-muscles in your face… you know, the ones that supposedly produce serotonin or whatever natural chemical it is that makes you happy? I swear it works). I close my eyes and ‘bungee’ every single day. It’s the only way sometimes. Even in the trickiest situations, things work themselves out. They always do. YOU JUST GOTTA GO… AND LET GO. Mostly because there’s no way around it.

Last year, I thought LadyP’s 1st birthday kicked my a$$. Ha. That was child’s play. This year came this close to being my demise.

True, two-thirds of this insane week was my own doing (planning the baptism and birthday in one weekend… but that’s what you do when half of your beloved family lives out of town and you want all of your treasured ‘people’ to be at both of your babies’ events so that you can look back on pictures in the future and bawl with happiness for wonderful memories). But then when Maury producers snuck up on me in the midst of my meticulous planning, calling me out of nowhere to fly across the country a few days after our big birthday-baptism-bonanza….

*BUNGEE*

“Yes!” Of course I’ll do it.” (Totally ecstatic beyond explanation.) No brainer. I knew I’d be exhausted, wiped out and probably get sick thanks to overextending myself (and I did, which is why it took me so long to write this blog entry in the first place), but if MAURY POVICH calls you to his wild and inexplicably-popular show to talk about secret germs in hidden places… YOU SAY YES AND FIGURE OUT THE DETAILS LATER (like that part about who’s going to watch my kids… thank you mother-in-law). So between getting details organized with our church, scrambling seating arrangements over and over again (a big Armenian family does need seating arrangements for the after-Christening luncheon), coordinating cake-delivery times with the restaurant, cleaning and setting up my house to accommodate 30 family members for brunch the next morning, whipping up my put-in-the-oven-and-bake omelets, busting out hot pink decorations, sending Hubby to the store to get the sodas I forgot, counting my plates and silverware to make sure I had enough for everyone to eat in a civilized way (a fab mom does NOT do paper unless it’s a BBQ/picnic, afterall), and on and on… the back of my mind worried that Maury’s offer was really some sort of hidden camera trick on me involving some wacked-out ex-boyfriend who wants to confront me on national TV.

*BUNGEE*

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, imagined jumping and opened my eyes (I actually do this just before I go on live TV, to get my jitters out).

 

And just like that: I wasn’t worried anymore. If LilMiss’ cake melts on the restaurant’s patio, so be it. If I had to use a few paper plates for LadyP’s birthday party, so be it. If I had to drink 10,000 packs of Emergen-C just to make it to Maury in one piece, so be it. There’s something about closing my eyes in the chaos for one second (imagining I really am diving off a steep cliff, even though I never have and never will) that FREES me, mentally and emotionally. Had I let myself really worry about all the random details of the week – and NOT just ‘BUNGEED’ – all the giggles, smiles, laughs, warm hugs, tears of joy, family bonds, big ridiculous pink party dresses and naked baby-squeaks in church would’ve been WASTED and FORGOTTEN by me. And that’s about as UNfabulous as it gets.

WHEN YOU BUNGEE, YOU LET GO & STAY IN THE MOMENT…

AND THAT’S FABULOUS.

No matter what happened yesterday, or what’s happening tomorrow you must remember to enjoy the right now.

Because you never know when you’re going to get a call from Maury to mess up your head… (which turned out to be totally legit, super-fun, fab & a bit frightening for those of us who take our kids to museums and aquariums… airdate/info to follow soon!)

WHAT DO YOU TELL YOURSELF TO CLEAR YOUR HEAD AND STAY *IN* YOUR LIFE’S PRECIOUS MOMENTS?