Song and Dance

Last night, as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I heard Nelson set up for karaoke. Since we've given up TV and the Wii for Lent, everyone's getting very creative with their time. Somehow they all figured that hooking up the karaoke to the TV did not count as TV time at all.

It was close to bedtime and I was trying desperately to clean up from the mess of dinner…and the day. Everyone else was singing their little hearts out as I put the food away and wiped the counters. I had just started to get the water warm to wash the dishes when they yelled, “It’s your turn Mama!”

By now it was past bedtime and the kitchen was not finished and I did not feel like singing (karaoke is not one of my favorite things to do as singing is not one of my best talents). However, when I saw the joy on those little faces, I had to join them. I stepped over the Lego’s to get to the microphone and tried not to look at the folded laundry that had yet to be put away.

The music started and I had to focus on the screen because I was singing a song I barely knew. It took all of one verse for me to forget the mess and start dancing. The accepting audience of the people who love me whether or not I’m singing in tune joined in and before I knew it - I was a rock star baby.

When my song ended, Mackenzie was eager to grab the mike. Before I could leave the scene Aiden asked me to dance. How could I possibly say no? By the end of the song he was fox-trotting with me better than some of the freshmen we teach. Of course, when Dawson saw this he had to have the next turn and the next thing I knew I was swinging Max in circles thinking, “Bedtime? What bedtime?”

The kids got to bed an hour later than normal on a school night. The kitchen got cleaned…eventually. The evening, in short, did not go as planned at all. Instead, it went much better.

Holding Aiden’s hand hearing him tell me, “Look Mama, now I can do it without looking down,”; having Dawson beg me to teach him the smooth moves; holding Max in my arms while he begged, “Dance with me Mama! Dance faster!”; listening to the way Mackenzie sings on key and in time with anything we throw at her; watching Nelson compliment the boys on their dance steps; these are the moments they’ll remember forever.

In the end, I discovered that I’d rather be the mama that dances with her kids in the middle of the family room than the one who keeps her house immaculate. Besides, are they really going to remember how clean our house was anyway? Will they even notice? They will remember the time we spent with them. They will remember fun things like dancing to karaoke.

They might also remember the tunes of their mama and daddy singing away long after they fell asleep!