Elbow Jabs and Vigor

a greeting to 2024

My boys’ favorite game is Wrestlemania—this consists of all 3 of the boys in my house (2 sons and 1 husband) racing up the stairs after dinner to then jump on the bed, tickle mercilessly, wrestle each other nonstop and almost literally bounce off the walls for 15 minutes before bathtime.

It’s a great winding down activity before trying to get them to read books and pray….wink wink.

To no one’s surprise, it riles them up like none other, and they are amped to do this 4 out of 6 nights a week that my husband is home from the fire station. They’ve tried to attempt wrestling me on the nights that he’s working, and the end result is just not the same.

Daddy is the most fun, and wrestle time has become this wild, raucous and sacred ritual every night.

The newest iteration has my husband Charlie and Judah, our 6 year old, buried under the covers of our bed, heads covered with the sheet. Shep, our 2 year old, climbs onto the bed and stands at their feet. He shouts, “Beeee-ahhhh!” (translation: bear) and jumps with all his might onto the pile of limbs that is Daddy and Judah.

There is no warm-up, no easing in, no warning. Just a full—tilt jump with every ounce his 2 year old self can muster. Inevitably, an elbow jabs an eye, knees are bonked into ribs (hopefully not skulls) and more *tender* body parts at times are semi—crushed, as well. I hear all this from downstairs, groans and shrieks and all, and can’t help but giggle.

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I greet 2024 with the same enthusiasm Shep has in being the bear.

I’m giving an elbow jab to mindless scrolling and hoping to be more mentally present and unencumbered by details I don’t need to know.

I’m jumping like a flying squirrel into family life with 2 young kids, reveling in the noise and messes, soaking it all up as much as I can.

I know there will be wonky moments, tears, and frustrations, just like when knees bash into bones and cause some bruising.

I'm hoping to have the vigor to keep jumping and keep laughing in the face of grief and growth.

I know enough to know that there are no guarantees in this life. In 2020, we entered with booty shakes and champagne, hardly believing we were living in the futuristic world of 2020. Then COVID hit and life changed drastically.

In 2021, our world forever changed with the life of our second son, Shepherd. We adjusted to life as a family of 4.

In 2022, we said goodbye to my sweet Dad after a long road of dementia.

In 2023, we settled in to a more consistent pace as a family.

What does 2024 hold? No one knows entirely. But I am praying for joy and peace to be present over all, for the wisdom to take it one day at a time, and the wonder to see it all as unbelievable grace.

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This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Hello".

Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash