The longer I am a parent, the more I understand some of the things my mom did in our teen and early young adult days. Alessia and I took full advantage of not being in school anymore, sleeping in late and slumming it. Mama understood we needed the break, but after a while, she also knew we needed to get on with our lives. Neither of us had any real ambition. True, I had yoga, but I didn’t begin teaching right away. She started waking us up early to cook breakfast and making me help her in the garden. At the time, I thought she was just trifling and gave us busy work, like our teachers. Later, I figured she was just teaching us basic life skills. But now I see her intent went beyond that. Not only was she teaching basic skills, but also she was exposing us to different things, hoping to spark an interest. She had already done that once by taking us to the gym in our teen days. Alessia and I both fell in love with fitness, and I fell in love with yoga. Desiree is growing up way too fast, but it’s never too early to introduce a potential new passion to our children. That’s why I keep inviting her to cook with me. I mean, true, I just enjoy her company, and I want her to learn, but she also might discover she loves it and wants to continue doing it. Since we were awake at the same time again, I recruited her for breakfast duty, and this time she helped!
I didn’t want to make anything heavy because we would eat again around midday, so I made yogurt parfaits. Desi wanted to make biscuits, so I made dough and let her play in it. They didn’t exactly go with our meal, but hey, I’m here for the learning experience. Besides, I knew they’d never make it to the oven, anyway. Sure enough, as I predicted, she abandoned the biscuits once my parfaits were ready. Good thing we’re rich now. I don’t like wasting food, but at least it won’t hurt the budget.
On my way to the shower, I checked my phone for any last-minute messages from Dub. I felt kind of weird setting up this shindig knowing they were going through a difficult time, but Sophia encouraged me to do it anyway because this could be just the pick-me-up they needed. My calendar said today was Family Day! How appropriate our two families would come together today. Of all the smaller holidays, Family Day was definitely my favorite. Well, it was probably the only one we ever attempt to celebrate growing up, heh. We never did Egg Day, and for obvious reasons, Love Day wasn’t emphasized very much.
I was sooooo glad the rain stopped. There’s still a chance it will start again later, but hopefully we’ll at least have time to bask in the sun while we eat. Those storms seemed like they would never end, lasting about three or four days in a row! As I walked outside, I saw more than just me got hit. I found so many piles of ash and charred things littered around the yard as I threw the ribs on the grill. I still can’t believe I got hit. Twice!! I don’t know anyone who got hit even once.
I got the ribs all succulent and fall-off-the bone tender, then went inside to make some iced tea and a salad. I found my ladies busy at work, preparing for our guests. Desiree washed the breakfast dishes, and Sophia took out trash and cleaned whatever else needed to be clean. #TeamMurillo is the best family I could have asked for. I never feel alone or overwhelmed from carrying everything. Me and Sophia are true partners, and it’s clear Desiree watches and learns from her.
With the house cleaned and the food ready to eat, we brought everything outside. I caught Dub on the porch just as we were going back inside, so I called for them to come through the side gate. Sophia and I were all smiles as we awaited them. We needed this as much as they did.
