One Perfect Moment {Driving} | Life

One Perfect Moment is all about those moments, big or small, that make you wish they'd last forever. Those moments you want to stop in time, when everything feels perfect, even for just a split-second. Snapshots of the mind. Moments to treasure forever.

Hectic. Chaos. Exhausting.

Just a few words you could use to describe my day last Saturday.

It was my good friends daughter's 4th birthday party. There were lollies. There was cake. There was the most magnificent jumping castle.

And there were kids. Lots of kids. All dressed like Elsa from Frozen. It was a full-scale Elsa Convention if you will.

Dave had to work so I was flying solo with the girls and to say they were a handful would be an understatement. Punky is going through a stage where everything is the most dramatic thing to ever happen to her. There were tears. Lots of tears.

She doesn't cope well with large groups of kids. She gets shy and overwhelmed, and as a result she gets emotional and sticks to herself.

Zee on the other hand, is the total opposite. She thrives in large groups, she loves to watch the kids. She quite happily went and say herself down in the circle of kids who had gathered to play pass the parcel. She watched with interest and knew exactly what to do when the time came to have a go at unwrapping. She was in her element.

Punky sat on my lap and refused to participate, snuggling in to my chest and watching through the gaps in her fringe. She eventually warmed up as the party wore on, but I could tell it was an effort for her to keep the emotions in check.

Zee was her usual, destruction-seeking missile. At 19 months she is determined to get her hands on anything and everything she finds in her path. She is relentless and simply laughs and goes back for more despite being told off or moved away 10 times before. It is exhausting.

I was saying to Dave that night when we got home that, although there are plenty of upsides to having two kids close together, one of the downsides is that we've basically had a toddler going through that destruction phase non-stop for the last 19 months. Just as Punky started to grow out of it, Zee grew in to it. It makes it incredibly draining to go anywhere with the girls and without Dave. I spend the time constantly stopping Zee from doing things she shouldn't be, and trying to help Punky keep her emotions in check.

By the end of the party I felt like I had run a marathon between the two of them. I think I sat down for a grand total of 5 minutes over 5 hours, and by the time we got in the car to go home I was well and truly done.

But as we started the 45 minute drive home, a sense of calm descended over the car. Zee fell asleep by the second turn, and Punky was having a great time going through the contents of her loot bag. Every now and then she would exclaim "Look, Mummy! What's this Mummy?" and discuss each of the little trinkets from the bag. She munched on the mixed lollies and smarties and I could tell that despite the emotional ordeal that being surrounded by a large group of excited, noisy kids was for her, she was happy. She'd had a good time.

As we drove home I basked in the calm of the car. I didn't feel stress at the traffic, just enjoyed this small, perfect moment of peace as my small girl slept and my big girl enjoyed her treasures. I knew that as soon as the car pulled in the driveway it would be back to crazy, hectic, sugared-up kids, but for just this moment, everything was calm.

A perfect moment in a day full of chaos.



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Comments

Bec @ Wholly Listening said…
Yep! I can so relate to this. My three are also close in age (when BB was born, I had 3, aged 3 1/2 and under) and public outings by myself are always crazy, even now. It makes me want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep :-) I'm glad you got your moment of calm in amongst it all.
LydiaCLee said…
Sometimes those quiet moments in the crazy day are the best ones of all....
I see so often in my own kids, their enjoyment of something post-event. At the time they appear bored, whiny and bothered, but get them back home and they'll tell you what a great time they had. It's intriguing! Glad the party was fun for both of them!
Those quiet moments are ever so special amongst the craziness of raising kids! Even though there are four years between my two girls it can still be exhausting, every age has its upsides and downsides. Sounded like they both had a great time at the party in the end!
writeofthemiddle said…
It's those quiet moments that come out of nowhere and give you little heat pangs that make all the crazy times worthwhile! :-)
Simplify.Create said…
Most arvos around the time hubby goes to work about 3, we get a bowl of grapes to share & Miss 2 sits in my lap while we watch cartoons . Occasionally she even goes to sleep but it's nice & relaxing. I wonder what our routine will be once the new baby arrives though :)
Elisha Ross said…
How good are family. Lovely pics. Grandpa is 'uncle Dave' in these parts, the kids love him.
Eva Lewis said…
Oh I couldn't imagine what that would be like with two kids! I experienced Elliott being more difficult that usual at a birthday party, he just seemed overwhelmed by all of the people he didn't know and kept asking me to go home. I felt so bad that we had to leave after only an hour and a half. By the sounds of things you did amazingly to get through 5 hours with 5 minutes downtime!
Julie M said…
I love those type of moments too! My girls sound similar to yours, Popette (6) is a little shy and would cling to me at big parties when she was younger, but Cherub (3.5), she's outgoing and loves meeting new kids and asking them to play with her. Isn't funny how sisters can be so different!


Stopping by via #openslather :)
Cariemay said…
Aww those are gorgeous shots - so full of fun and love :)

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