the sit and chat

i finally had a few moments to go through our smash day photos. and i remembered a funny conversation that transpired with on onlooker. it made me think about how much life has changed from when i started this adventure called motherhood. from the days of a sleeping infant and wondering what every little itty bitty noise or cough or sneeze meant and if i was doing everything right. fearing i was doing everything wrong (ok i still do that!) and being unable to look much past the age my kids are at this moment (well, i still do that too!).
i had no idea how much harder it would get...how much my heart could keep exploding with love as each child enters our family...and how it just keeps getting better and better.

it wasn't your normal day at the park. we overtook the better half of a nearby pavilion, and strung out tarps on the grass to host our wares. we toted armfuls and boxes of stray fax machines, tv's, computer monitors, office phones, keyboards, broken electric drums, and other misc items that were headed to the dump, but destined for project greatness. it was a bit of a spectacle.

a dainty 1st time moms group looked on from the other half of the pavilion and the cute little group watched with peering eyes as we took out hammers and safety goggles. there was a strange silence. i could tell they had no idea what we were doing, or how to even approach the question. they were all toting infants, who sat on laps and strollers. a sit and chat play group. i'm not dissing it, by any means. the sit and chat playgroup is how i met many of my dear friends. we learned motherhood together. we studied every little part of our children. we gave and received advice. and we were in it together.although we still do all of those things, it's never quiet. we've got jars of waterbugs sitting next to our coffee cups, muddy tire splatters decorating the outside of our diaper bags, and we high five our kids when they do an awesome powerslide in the grass.

if i had been the one in the park this week? sitting with my 6 month old first born son, who had not yet leapt down 7 steps in a single bound, superman dove off of his bed to bowl over a family of action figures, rode his scooter at warp speed and then met a tough dude named 'asphalt'...well, if it were me...i'm sure i would have raised an eyebrow, shielded my child's eyes from such dangerous activity, and continued with my pleasant conversation.
and thus, as i continue my story, i have no judgement :)

anyway, as one of the moms walked into the pavilion to join the sit and chat group, hip wearing a cute baby boy, i passed by (schlepping a rather large array of screw drivers, my camera, and clock radio under one arm). i noticed her peering a glance in the direction of our picnic table stacked with stray electronics. i said with a laugh "we thought a fax machine and a radio might just come in handy...oh and if you need a tv, we've got one of those too!"


uncomfortable silence. entire group of sit and chat moms are now listening intently.

"we've been wondering what you guys are up to...seems a little strange."

"well, we are trying to get together each week and think of a projects for the kids to explore. last week it was exploding soda...this week we are letting them tear into old electronics. they really love it!"

she made it very clear that she wasn't on board. "wow, that's........ interesting" she said with a tone that was less than approving, and walked away.

uncomfortable silence.

i smiled. and for some reason, i loved that we were doing something so out of the ordinary that it was a bit crazy. i love that some people don't get it...because maybe, just maybe, that sweet mom of a 6 month old will end up a few years down the road with a 5 year old who wants to know how every little thing works. who loves to carry around a frog all day and has an awesome super hero power kick. she'll feel exasperated by the same old grind, and remember an ordinary wednesday, when that crazy group of moms and hammers let their kids smash stuff. she might just do the same, and it will be awesome.

as i walked away, i hoisted a fax machine on my shoulder, and said, "come on foster, lets go smash some stuff!"

and it was awesome.

disclaimer: this activity was well supervised, the kids wore safety goggles and each had their own area to smash. if you do a similar project, be sure to practice safe hammer skills before hand and have a talk with the group about how to be safe. oh, and if you open a tv or computer monitor..don't smash it with a hammer!!  there's crazy gas and glass inside :) wanna guess how we found that out??