ok fine for sure for sure

Taking the drive from Binghamton, NY to Virginia Beach was not boring for a minute.  We played “yellow car” think Punch bug but with yellow cars, trucks, buses, and excavators.  Bluetooth songs streamed a wide variety of tunes from radio top 40 to Nirvana Unplugged, Dave Matthews, Depeche Mode, the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa and on.  Then at the beach there was a band playing 80’s hits and my daughter who is on the cusp of her teens grabbed me by the hand and pulled me onto the dance floor to Walk like an Egyptian and hit a lighted beach ball with the crowd.  For the first time in a while I was able to truly relax and enjoy it all.

Being a parent is hard work and more often than not it can feel like a battle.  Maybe I should introduce Love is a Battlefield next?  I used to love music and now I listen to podcasts and NPR.  I guess I forgot how the right music can set the tone for an experience and driving down the highway imitating Moon Unit saying “like Oh my God” literally opened up the playful silly part of me that loves to laugh and even better they got to have that experience with me.  My 17 year old son who plays classic rock on a guitar with doves inlaid on the fret board, my 14 year old son who has an amazing sense of rhythm and can dance to anything and my 13 year old daughter who can sing along with any radio song plus rock out to the 80’s.

I am happy that I was able to take a moment to appreciate the simplest pleasures on our trip – music and laughs with the people that I love.