Morpho Butterflies and Wendy’s Frostys

Random ramblings reflect my scattered state of mind. I’ve got a plumber in the house doing work, interrupting my routine and schedule. There’s a deep layer of fog covering the sky this morning and every kid was late to school because of daylight savings time. Gotta love it.

In an effort to combat the fatigue of too much screen time, we’ve got a house rule that the kids only get screen time – time on iPads, phones, computer and video games – from Friday through Sunday. We limit it to one hour per kid each of those days. This strategy has backfired on us I think because what happens then is that Friday afternoons end up being indoors, in front of screens like maniacs. Then the weekends we are constantly managing this whole who gets what screen when. It is extremely frustrating and if anyone out there has come up with better ways of managing this, please share! But we haven’t come up with a better solution so we continue on.

This past Friday was an early school release day which meant we had hours of potential screen time in front of us. And it was nice out- like the sun is out and it’s above 60 degrees kind of nice. I dislike the idea of squandering good weather. So I put my big Momma foot down.

We are visiting the Butterfly House this afternoon I announced to the kids. Reactions? Baby girl squealed with joy. 2nd most honorable son whined that he just wanted to stay home and relax which in his book means playing video games. Big boy threw a major tantrum that culminated in the car with a you can force me to go but you can’t make me like it teenage back talk. It was painful. I thought maybe I should just turn the car around and forget this whole thing. It  would have been easier and that’s saying something. But I wanted us to spend quality time together and if it didn’t come naturally I was going to force it.

The month of March is March Morpho Mania at the Butterfly House. The common blue morpho is native to Central and South America. Every March, the Butterfly House has thousands of morphos shipped to them from Costa Rica every day. An interesting fact about these beauties is that their wings are not actually blue although they appear to be blue. Their wings are lined with tiny scales that only allow blue light to escape. So, when you see the beautiful blue mess of butterflies, it’s just the sun hitting them in a certain way. When we entered the tropical conservatory we were instantly surrounded and in the company of 2,000 morpho butterflies. Here’s a picture of the 3 kids upon entering the greenhouse. You can see how unhappy the boys are.

All you parents out there with littles still- enjoy and embrace it. There we were, experiencing this stupendous nature and beauty and I have to be honest and share that I just felt sadness. I felt that the days of me dragging my kids out all together especially big boy who is on the precipice of turning 14 and entering high school are numbered. Teenage angst is building and we are already competing against so many things like lacrosse games and practices and Boy Scout activities. I struggle with this. So I remained quiet, ignored their protests and walked around the conservatory, observing the environment around us.

Beauty and Rhythm

I swam laps in the pool this morning. Broke out my pink Speedo swim cap, pink goggles and TYR reversible swimsuit and carried them off in my bag. The swim cap had sand on it from the Pacific- from a very long time ago.  I noticed the gear in my bag of course and asked me – “Momma, you going swimming without us?” Yes, dear heart- Momma is swimming without you. I felt a slight wave of guilt. I dropped the kiddos off at school and drove right over to the gym. The water was slightly cold as my body slipped in. I swam tenatively at first- freestyle strokes to warm up and find my rhythm. It took about 15 minutes but I found my groove and just like that I was swimming again. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Repeat for 20 minutes.

I seem to have found my rhythm again and it feels right and good. All 3 kids have started school and are thriving. Not just surviving but thriving. We are only 3 days into this journey but I am filled with a renewed sense of gratitude and optimism for our life and the people in it.

A monarch butterfly visited me yesterday as I was reading “The Lowland” on the back porch. Every now and then, a butterfly visits us and stays awhile. He does not fly away. He makes sure that we notice him and then hangs around. I silently push my tears away. I know that Trevor Sr. is near. He’s watching over us, keeping a close eye on our journey- this I know in my heart. We’re going to be okay and he’s okay too. The life cycle continues.