Spontaneity is not really a word that goes along with parenthood. Being a mother, I am a slave to my children’s schedules. I wouldn’t have it any other way though, because they need me and are reliant on me.
That is why when I got my own mother’s voice mail message to join her and her lady friends for lunch after a delightful morning of getting a mani/pedi at the local nail salon (already a luxury), I decided to stop by with warm hellos but an apology that I could only stay for a couple of minutes.
Their smiles were so genuine and so inviting that I really really really wanted to stay with them and have some leisure time like retired ladies do.
I called home to check in on the fort and assess the responsibilities that had piled up in my absence. My husband is so good. He had it all under control except for a birthday present that needed to be wrapped and a changing of the guards when my son would need to be schlepped to a birthday party. It was a tag team afternoon between birthday party schlepping and hanging out with our daughter who also needed some supervision.
I had 45 minutes to spend at the fine restaurant with these lovely women. It flew by, but those 45 minutes were like a breath of fresh air. How nice it is to have great food at a restaurant that doesn’t even know from mac and cheese and chicken fingers and to have adult conversation. I was being spontaneous, and it was just so nice….even if it was for such a short time.
The song that popped into my head as I was relishing this magical moment was a 1990′s cover of the Rolling Stones song, “I’m Free.” A band called The Soup Dragons brought the song back to popularity 20ish years ago, and though I rarely think of this song at all anymore, somehow my spontaneous ladies’ luncheon brought it to mind. So, here it is for you all to watch. Perhaps you’ll be able to hear my applause in the background echoing loudly for perfect little unplanned moments like I experienced yesterday. They are the best.
