Parenting can be hard. This week we have had some amazing moments, and some definitely-not-amazing moments. We’ve hit major milestones, and the “depths of despair” (to quote Anne Shirley). We have laughed hard, and cried, too.
Basically, this week has been life.
Last night, a friend told us about NEOWISE, a comet that was passing near Earth that would not be back for 6800 years, and my inner astronomy nerd had her interest piqued. I decided that given the milestone that we hit as a family, I would keep the kids up well past their bedtime and we would go comet hunting. And so we did. We watched 2 Toy Story movies to keep us awake, and then, at 10:45pm, we piled into the car, with directions from our friends, and went to find NEOWISE. (My son said that this sounded like a Matrix/It combo… which is weird since he isn’t old enough for either of those movies…)
We drove to the darkest field in our neighbourhood, and found the beautiful, barely visible streak just above the horizon. We saw Jupiter and Saturn in bright, glorious alignment. We watched the ISS move across the sky.
Will we all be tired tomorrow? Probably. Will the kids be cranky? Probably. Will I regret this night? No.
Because one day, when my kids are grown and think back to their childhood, they will remember that crazy night when they stayed up really, really late and danced in the dark in a football field and saw a once-in-a-lifetime comet misty above the horizon.
Parenting can be hard. But in the end? We only get a few years where we get to make the memories that will hopefully comfort them, or make them laugh when they grow up.
So I choose comet hunting. I choose these memories.
KaliDesautelsSpeaks 