Five Lessons from 2016

It's been a wonderful year. After all, we enjoyed this, this, this and this! This, too! And this! Like all good years, 2016 seemingly flew by and we have countless great memories and photos to look back on. As the year wraps up, though, I thought I'd make a short list of lessons I learned that I'll take with me into 2017. Here they are--in no particular order. Some are light-hearted and some are more serious...and that's life!

5.  Resist the urge to say, "Maybe a little more off the bangs?" when your child is getting a haircut. I never had to worry about this with Sammy since he has wavy hair, but Sebastian's is bone straight, so short bangs are really, REALLY obvious. Really.

4.  Go big or go home with homemade Halloween costumes. This "Reds vendor" costume was 100% Brie's idea, and it took relatively little time, money and craftiness to bring it to fruition! The fact that it was homemade made it that much more rewarding for both of us. I loved how joyful Brie was in showing it off!!

3.  Deep breaths, friends. Weekly I think/pray/hope to myself that, in the crazy and stressful moments of parenting, I will be able to find the wherewithal to take a deep breath and let the moment pass. SO much easier said than done, am I right? But...when I have been able to do it, it's amazing because an hour later, I can hardly remember what was so frustrating. But if I flip my lid, I definitely remember that...and I'm rarely proud of it.

Like when your kids are going bonkers from popsicles you gave them (despite knowing the popsicles would make them go bonkers)...

Or when the littlest angel raids my closet and tries on one of my (white) shirts...

Or insists on wearing Brie's mittens and carrying a (heavy) lunchbox of toy trains to the bus stop when we're already running late...

You get the point. Moments (even stressful ones) are fleeting.  Inhale, exhale, repeat...

2.  Every party is a costume party! OK...this is not entirely true, but my point is that, when you can dress up, you should dress up. I get so much more out of a concert or party if I'm in the moment and, for me, that means dressing the part. Here I am in my best 80's wear before the Starship concert we went to in August. What better way is there to hear, "Marconi plays the mamba..." live than while channeling my inner Cyndi Lauper??

1.  Show your friends some love. I really can't imagine if we hadn't made the drive to Chicago to visit our sick friend Danielle back in October. We made a long weekend of wonderful memories with her and her family...and then she was gone just two weeks later. If you have the opportunity, visit, call, write, and text your friends (healthy or not!) to show them how much you care and appreciate them. You'll never be sorry that you did.

Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy 2017!!