a moment

i had a moment this morning. have you ever had one? it's one of those times when for just a moment, everything feels right. there's no pressure, no deadlines, no sleepless nights or screaming children. no dogs peeing on the floor or popcorn burned in the microwave.

the kids (well, jack) woke up at the ass crack of dawn today. 5:30am. (A!M!) so we had eaten, read the paper, gotten dressed and were out the door by 8:15am. i took the kids and the dog to a playground at an elementary school not far from us. it's a great playground because most people go to the big one in centennial park and that one is always packed with older, unruly children on a nice day. the elementary school playground was deserted and maggie could run around the fields.

so the moment. i was sitting on a bench with maggie at my feet chomping on some bark. kate and jack were running around the playground. kate was being the sweet older sister and helping jack climb up stairs and encouraging him ("good boy jack!") when he went down the slide. they were laughing at games only they understood. the weather was beautiful...chilly enough for a jacket but not for a hat or gloves.

as i was sitting there watching all of this and taking it in, i realized that years ago in my early twenties, this was my worst nightmare. marriage, kids, the dog (the white picket fence). i was going to travel the world and live an exciting, meaningful, purposeful life. in my youthful arrogance, i would never have thought that life could be so good, and real and meaningful just sitting on a bench with your dog, watching your kids play together.

and you know what? it's about 10 million times better than the best i thought it could ever be.