Beautiful

Before tonight I would have written about standing in the backpack aisle of Target for half an hour, or how I had to pull the car over to the side of the road until Emily stopped throwing a fit so we could go to dinner.

I intended to put the kids to bed early and enjoy a quiet evening alone while Ian was out watching a movie. We’d spent all day fighting the crowds at the Mall and Target in search of the perfect backpack for Emily, well perfect in that it had to be exactly the same as the one we saw a few weeks ago but I didn’t have the foresight to buy at the time. Will was a sweaty damp, screaming mess and as I dropped my mom off at her house after dinner, I knew even she couldn’t wait to enjoy some peace and quiet. I mean, it’s not that my kids aren’t wonderful, they’re just exhausting. So, we drove past a sign for the Olalla Bluegrass Festival and I remembered two free tickets I had at home. I mentioned it to Emily and then instantly regretted it, My quiet evening!! Gone! But I thought of the kids, how they probably had a stressful day too, and how nice it would be to get outside, let out some energy, and have some fun. So I drove home, changed into some jeans and a sweatshirt, threw some pajamas on Will, grabbed my camera and the tickets and was back out the door in five minutes.

As we wandered into the festival, my expectations were pretty low, I’m not a fan of country music at all, but I do like festivals. It was just wrapping up, we got there an hour before it was over, people were starting to leave, but the band was playing, people were dancing out on the field. I spread out the blanket, sat down and expected Will to start running off in the opposite direction.

But I was surprised. Emily stood up and started dancing in the middle of the field, in front of all those people! I watched her twirl around, kick up her feet, and then she grabbed Will’s hands, pulled him up and danced with him. Will, of course, loved it. He jiggled up and down holding on to Emily’s hands and grinning from ear to ear. When each song ended they clapped politely with the rest of the crowd. I sat watching them, baffled. Could these be the same screeching children I spent the day with?

The sun began to set and the band kept playing. Emily and Will kept dancing, hugging, and laughing. For me, it didn’t matter what music was playing, though I did enjoy that as well. The kids were so much fun to watch, and Emily even got me to dance a little too.

Will made friends with an elderly woman who was dancing alone, and as the kids hugged each other so tightly they fell over, she said, “they’re so beautiful!”. And I know. I do. Their pure joy in dancing barefoot on a summer evening, it washes away the tears, the tantrums, the fighting. And what’s left? Two kids so bursting with love for life and each other that beauty radiates from their souls.