highs and lows

this is not an original idea. i have some friends that play this game and then i read about it again on another blog last week. sometimes when i hear about something or hear a certain word several times in a row, it makes me stop and think...this is probably not a coincidence and i probably need to pay attention. so after i read about this little game again last week, i decided to try it out on pb, wil and em at dinner one night. we already have a nightly tradition of "giving it up to somebody"...we toast somebody that has done something great, somebody that needs our thoughts, or just somebody that we are remembering for that moment. so i wasn't sure how another nightly ritual would go over. especially one that really does require a little more thinking.

so with that, let me add that this january has been pretty blah for me. i don't know if it is the continual stream of gray and cloudy days we have had, the lack of warmth and sunshine, the boredom of winter months, or what it is. but it is has not been fun. i have tried to keep an open mind and a positive attitude so as not to drag everyone around me down into the miry funk, but that has been hard. so the idea of this game seemed like perfect timing. the game is simply the act of taking turns at dinner, telling your "high" and your "low" of the day, starting with the low. but the object of course, is not necessarily to focus on the low. by sharing your "low" and listening to others, you see that we can all have crappy parts to our days and you know you are not alone. when you share your "high" and listen to others, you do realize how much we have to be thankful for and how little the "lows" really are in comparison. it sounds completely hokey, but it works. and the kids reminded us again last night to play "high, low" before we could even suggest it.

the first time that we tried this was last thursday night. i started us off, em was next, then wil, and we were going to finish with pb. but before pb's turn, he started to tell us something that happened to him that day that had nothing to do with the game. when he paused mid story i said, "awww, and that must have been your low for the day." he stopped for a second and thought about it. no, it had not been his "low" but now that i had mentioned it, he guessed it could have been. this turned into a conversation that took up the rest of our evening. not exactly how we planned for the game to work. but it was productive in the end.

so last night we fixed a yummy dinner of fajitas and guacamole and decided to play "high, low" for the weekend. this time, the game went much better. everyone had a different "high" and our "lows" were pretty insignificant. i think that is how it should be. and if somebody does have a big "low" to share, then we have each other to be there through it. so i will end this post with a description of my "high" for the weekend...

last week was a week full of lacrosse practices, tumbling/cheer competition practices, lots of homework, some sore throats, rain and more rain. wil and em wanted zaxby's for dinner on friday night. em had another late tumbling practice to get ready for her competition on sunday. so we picked up dinner for them, started a fire, and let them eat in front of the t.v. (not on the new rug) and we ran to harvest moon for a date night dinner. it was crowded so we had a great time sitting at the bar, talking about our day and enjoying dinner and drinks. we got home around 8:00 and were ready for pj's and bed. we sat down in front of the fire with the kids for a few minutes before planning to get everyone settled for a good night's sleep. well...4 hours later...we all went to bed. we ended up staying up and talking with them about everything from their days at the lower school to trying to figure out how to get a fine arts center built at school. we listened to music, told stories, laughed and were entertained by wil strumming the bass guitar to his favorite dave matthews tunes. this was definitely my high for the weekend. we are always so busy and we miss too much when we don't make the time to sit and talk and listen to each other. wil and em are growing up fast and it is priceless to catch them in this mode.

when i was waiting for my turn and listening to everyone else last night, i was amazed at how many "highs" we all had and how difficult it was to really think of any "lows". so glad we made time and room for one more thing in our nightly routine.