Sheer Desperation

Ideas for our family traditions have come from many different sources. Some were from my childhood. I stole a bunch from my sister. There are countless ideas on the internet. But some came from sheer desperation. 

Desperation? Why, yes!

Since before Ida was born, my husband and I knew we were being called to homeschool. I have been a stay-at-home homeschooling mama for sixteen years. That's a whole lot of time being at home with two, and later on three, children. 

Add to that a husband whose job included a lot of travel. A LOT! He'd sometimes be gone for multiple weeks at a time. At one point, he was traveling to Dubai just about monthly. We lived seven hours away from the four grandparents, and I was alone with the children often. 

Thankfully, we lived in an amazingly supportive neighborhood--the sweetest place in Virginia, if not anywhere. We also had a church family and a life group that went into action whenever I was on my own. Without those people, I'm not sure I would have made it. 

But on those long days with no daddy coming home at dinner time, doing mundane chores throughout the day and dealing with three unique personalities, we needed something fun. Or distracting. Or time consuming, so I could make it to bedtime. Sometimes it was as simple as a trip to the craft store for supplies to make fall leaves, or to the dollar store for what we needed to make candy cane reindeer. Other times it was a bit more involved. 

The one tradition that stands out in my memory as a save-the-day kind of idea was Cinco de Mayo. I had never celebrated Cinco de Mayo or even given it any thought. Then came one rough May fifth, and suddenly, it seemed like the best idea ever! I remember taking the children to the grocery store to buy ingredients for fried plantains and taco dip. We also bought a tablecloth and paper plates to make it festive. 

After we got home, we made a Mexican flag and some red and green spiral decorations. Ida made us red and green bracelets. I turned on Mexican music. Later, Ida shredded the cheese and helped me make the dip. An absolutely ordinary day made special by a spur-of-the-moment idea!

That was in 2009, and we haven't missed a Cinco de Mayo celebration since. The menu changed from year to year, becoming more impressive as they got older and their cooking skills improved. We no longer make decorations or the Mexican flag; we just take time to celebrate and make an ordinary day into something a little special!