Not so long ago, two years perhaps, a friend was shocked that I'd never seen Mary Poppins. She said something like, "But Kelsey, you are Mary Poppins!" Shortly after that I rented and finally watched it. I immediately could see what she meant - I love to sing and dance and enjoy my life. In short, I love to have fun.
The problem these days, with a little guy who rubs snot on my pants and whirls like a tornado, stringing messes wherever he goes, and wants constantly entertained, a family to feed, a dog to walk, and all the other things that go along with being adult, is there isn't much time left for me to have fun.
Often as adults, and especially moms, we get bogged down in the mundane in our daily lives. Maybe for you it's just the sheer volume of things that need done in a day. My guess is you to fall somewhere between the two, though. There's a lot of stuff that's just not enjoyable to do in a day - Laundry, diapers, maybe you have a day job (ahem, a paying day job) too - and it seems like the fun stuff is always the first to go.
I was telling you guys a few days ago how I thrive on creativity, but before we moved to Omaha this summer it had been a year since I'd created anything just for the enjoyment of it. It's not always possible for me to create everyday, so I have to find other ways of having fun and blowing off a little steam, even if it's just for a few minutes.
I've always been a music lover. I grew up in a house with music around all the time; my mom sings and my dad always had music on in his truck or his workshop. If there's anything else that comes close to the feeling I get when I am creating, it's listening to music.
I discovered when Max was very young, just a couple of weeks old, that he loves music too. Whenever he was fussy and I couldn't find a reason why, I would turn on some Frank Sinatra and slow dance with him around the living room until he fell asleep.
He's outgrown the need to be rocked, or danced in this case, to sleep, but we still share a strong bond through our mutual love of music and every afternoon we turn on some of our favorite music and dance and sing and go crazy. Some days we only have the time for one song, some days we dance until we can't dance anymore, but rarely does a day go by when we don't let loose for a few minutes and just have fun.
The more responsibilities we amass the harder, unfortunately, it seems to find the fun in our days. I don't know about you, but for this Mary Poppins-esque girl fun is like air or water - it feels almost essential to sustain my life.
I may not have nearly unlimited time for fun like I used to, but that perhaps makes those moments of wild, unabashed wild and crazy dancing to The Dog Days Are Over for the millionth time with Max even sweeter.
It's my feeling having a little fun and enjoyment in our days is essential to living a fulfilled life; how do you inject a bit of fun into your daily routine? Do you make a point of doing it every day? Join me this week in choosing an activity to do daily, even if just for a few minutes, to let loose. Tell me what you've picked below!
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