Wine and Kids

Once you have children, your priorities get rearranged, reordered and all askance, askew and akimbo. When Caitlin and I used to have a free weekend, we would plan a trip to Virginia's wineries, find a food and wine festival, or simply relax and go out to a nice dinner. 

Then Finn came along in 2013. Gracie followed in 2015. And everything leading up to both kiddies was both wonderful and eye-opening, but it also means that instead of passing fleeting moments sipping wine in a vineyard, our weekends now consist of finding things that involve music, animals, clowns or other activities that our juice and goldfish constituency would enjoy... And hopefully make them so exhausted that they will both nap simultaneously for a few moments. 

Water, milk and juice. We'll call it juice.

Gone are the day when this free time did not involve Clorox wipes, laundry or cleaning up uneaten food. 

Those of you with kids know where I'm coming from. Those of you thinking about kids, go for it! It is well worth it. Every moment. Even the ones where you are covered in vomit and you want to euthanize every single member of the Paw Patrol...

If you are expecting and still in the pre-parenting lie that kids won't change you and you will make THEM adapt to YOU, good luck with that. "Alternative Facts" are a thing now, so keep telling yourself that will happen. 

But back to wine with children. While Caitlin and my's free time is no longer occupied by touring vineyards, enjoying haute cuisine or strolling through festivals, it is now spent chasing two wonderful kiddies. We reward ourselves by collapsing in front of the TV with a goblet each before limping up to bed to do it all over the next day. And it is fantastic.