Wednesday, February 04, 2009

When life gives you lemons - DANCE!



So I have been in a big funk lately - a.really.big.funk. It could be the weather, could be the time of year, maybe it's the economy, the fact I haven't been drinking enough water, the phases my children have been struggling with, Cory's latest work schedule, our ward splitting, the (20+) pounds I wish would magically disappear - but aren't.....it could be a lot of things.

Anyway, this morning I was up early (very early) and I was trying to stay quiet for fear of waking up the rest of the family. So I was on the computer blog-stalking and reading one of my favorite blogs. As I read one post I realized that while there are crummy things going on around me constantly there is one thing I could do to fix my attitude about the stuff going on - I could dance more.

So tonight after I had bathed the boys and were getting ready to settle down for bedtime we started singing, and Gabe had a request - he wanted to listen to the "Kung Fu Panda" song - and he proceeded to sing the first lines of it for me. So I put it on full blast and Gabe, Hunter and I started singing, dancing, and doing our own Kung Fu moves. (I might add - we rock!) "Everybody Was Kung Fun Fighting" was just the first song in our playlist of dance bliss as we enjoyed many others (including "I Like To Move It, Move It" from the movie Madagascar - a fun version!) and danced for over 40 minutes.

Who in the heck needs a gym workout when you can dance like a maniac with your little boys???

Seriously - it was not only a good workout for all 3 of us - but it was fun. We had fun, we laughed, we were silly, we ran, we danced (and sang!)our hearts out. So I have a new resolve, when I'm feeling sorry for myself, worried about the state of the economy, or stressed about something I can't handle - I am going to 'pump up the volume' and 'get my groove on' - it was the best 40 minutes I've had in months!

(And I should add - Hunter has some jamming moves - he's awesome!)

(edited to add: We danced again tonight before bed. Not for as long, and not as fancy and funky - but what it lacked in calorie burning it made up for in sweetness. A slower song came on and I started to slow dance with Hunter. Then quickly Gabe wanted me to hold him and dance with him too - So I scooped up all 55 lbs of sweetness and we slow danced - so I guess where we didn't burn as many calories with the dancing - at least we worked on weight training..... They rested their heads on my shoulder, Hunter kept kissing both of us, we all had several group hugs and it was one of the sweetest, most tender mommy moments I've had. So darn sweet. I sure love those guys!)

3 comments:

Ellis said...

Love this post Joanna. I love the mental image of you and the boys dancing and singing the night away! Hope you guys are doing well. Miss and love all of you!

Katie said...

So cute! One of the things that my mom alsways did, and I have since adopted it into my own family is when things would get tense, or we werestuck in a rut, we were fighting, or just weren't ourselves, she would anounce "There is entirely too little dancing going on here!" and proceed to crank up the tunes and force us all, even the most grumpy ones to "cut a rug" with her. It made for some of my most cherished memories. Good job momma.

Sandra said...

I agree entirely! And I keep thinking of what Emma Goldman said (bet you never expected to see her name on your blog!): "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution"

Sad to hear you have been having a hard time.

Love you much, Sandra