Evolution

When it comes to playdates, 2 kids + 2 kids + 2 kids + 1 kid does not seem to equal 7.  It seems to equal more like 12.  My best girls (minus one) and I got together over the weekend with our kids, and whew!  I was more exhausted than I've been in some time by the end of that fun-filled day.

We used to get together and sip cocktails on rooftop decks, or sit at favorite bars with beers and wings.  We used loiter around one another's kitchen islands sipping wine and gossiping or griping about our busy lives.  We used to strive to out-do one another with our culinary prowess at our frequent gatherings.  We often got tipsy and silly.  We always had fun.

These days, however, our reunions have taken on a different sort of madness.  This visit, we inflated and later deflated bouncy houses, found Thomas the Tank Engine band-aids for wounded feet, mediated toy wars,  applied several coats of sunscreen, fed Cherrios, pizza, and watermelon (and hopefully not too much grass) to tiny mouths as well as to our own, and even uttered the phrase we said we'd never say: "because I said so."  We began conversations only to be interrupted, and maybe finished a few.  But we still had fun.

And I know we all look forward to the day when we will again be able to sit around, sipping our wine, finishing conversations, and remembering these crazy days, and those that came before.

'Life is short but sweet for certain.' DMB

Before.  Out.  At a bar. Drinking.  Circa 2007

After.  In a backyard. Chasing small humans.  Summer 2010.