Put Me In The Zoo

I commonly refer to my family as a circus and me the circus manager. It fits. It's entertaining. It's fun. Well, after the last couple weeks, I'm not sure that analogy fits anymore. Circuses are well thought out, planned and structured.  Every once in a while we'll hear of a freak accident where the tiger goes off on his handler or the elephant plows through the crowd, but for the most part, circus animals and people on stage are trained (or terrified) and respond on command to complete their tasks to entertain a crowd.

No, we're not a circus. We're entertaining and fun, but there's no structure and the planned days are scarce. We are a zoo. While entertaining, zoos allow their animals to roam free and do whatever it is that makes them happy. Other than feeding time, they lack structure. People come and watch the animals in the zoo in their natural habitat, not some crazy, delusional production where tigers are jumping through hoops of fire and elephants are giving each other piggyback rides.

The Dipp zoo has special kinds of animals though. We have morphing animals. We have lions that morph into monkeys that morph into birds that morph into... well, you get it.

My Mimi used to read to me when I was little. It was one of my favorite things to do with her. One of my favorite books she would read is a Dr. Seuss book, Put Me In The Zoo. If you aren't familiar with the read, it is about a Leopard named Spot. He wants to live in the zoo, but ultimately decides that the circus is the best fit for him as that is where he can best showcase his talents. Perhaps my childhood love for this book was a foreshadowing of my future. My future of being 'put in the zoo'. Ironically, I have purchased this book for Liam for our new family tradition, 12 books of Christmas. I can't wait to read it to him.

Ryan received some hand-me-down Spiderman pajamas from a friend last week. Tonight he wore them for the first time and realized the shirt had "web wings". My soon-to-be five-year-old immediately began jumping from the couch to the ottoman, and while flying through the air, he yelled "SPIDER SPIDER SPIDER!!"

After bath time I got one hell of a workout while attempting to dry my crazed, slippery, 2-year-old, half-monkey child while simultaneously preventing him from falling on a wet floor and keep the door shut while he pitched a fit to get at his brother before Ryan could get to his trains. Not an hour after his bath, Liam had an unfortunate accident with a Pediasure Sidekicks 'milk shake' that left his hair soaked and smelly and the bedroom walls needing to be cleaned.

On any given night, if you were to walk in our home, you would find Ryan racing around the "track" that our kitchen, living room and dining room double as, kicking balls through the house or jumping off the top of the Little Tikes climber. You will find Liam standing on tables, coloring on himself, getting into the tupperware cabinet, or emptying out the desk. During these colder months the basketball goal, bikes and various balls have found their way into the house. If you stepped in, you may or may not get smacked in the face by a ball that has just been kicked during a game of indoor soccer. If you have dinner with us, it is likely that you will end up with part of Liam's dinner in your hair, on your plate or in your lap. You may walk into a dance party in our kitchen, complete with all 43 instruments we own. You'll also hear dogs barking, children squeeling, and lovely background Pandora music that sometimes doesn't really fit the mood. You'll find dirty dishes in the sink, a pile of laundry and sometimes you'll find sticky floors. You'll also find a laid back mother who enjoys allowing her children express themselves in their own home.

So, no. Our home doesn't fit with the orderly standards of a circus. We're simply a zoo. A crazy, unstructured, free-spirited home with half-crazed, borderline-barbaric children. We act in our natural ways and only have semi-structured feeding times. We have lions, tigers, and bears... OH MY! We have fun, we have excitement, and we have love.

Yes please, Put me in the Zoo!