Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Bitter-Sweet 4th 2010

Happy 4th of July from 3/4 of the Aviles Family




So, as most of you know, my daughter, Isis, is in New York this summer.
This trip is very crucial for her...its a time for her growing as an individual
And also for me....no, really… it’s SUPPOSE to help me prepare my self to be ready to let her go next year.

Honestly...after the meltdown I had on 4th of July, I don’t know how I’m going to do it next year.

Here you all be the judge:



Last night Michael said before we went to bed, “This year we’re going to get up early and find a gooood spot.”

Well, our 4th of July started like any other year; our morning ritual of waking at 730 am and frantically try to grab all the “necessaties” for our outting.
You know which ones? Snacks, swim trunks, towels, book, iPod, iTouch, iPhone, Blackberry, PSP and any other electronic item that we could think of before we left the house. I think if, he could…Michael wouldve taken the 60” plasma off the wall and figure how to mount it at the park just so he could watch the Yankee game…but…the iTouch will have to do.

We get Mikey into the car but not before he yells out, “Don’t f’get my boogie board, you know the one that shoots out water!” Yes, a boogie board that shoots out water…Heaven forbid we forget this absolutley crucial item for our outting.

So there we are on our way to our yearly 4th of July celebration at our old neighborhood, Ladera Ranch.

We find the first available parking space, park and proceed to unload all the stuff, including his Puerto Rican pillow, because he HAS to let EVERYONE know that he is a PROUD Puerto Rican, from the car and into our newly purchased wagon Without Isis we need to rely on Mikey to help us carry some of these things that couldn’t fit in the wagon…but all Mikey could carry was…his boogie board that shoots out water.



Here's Michael and Mikey, with the family wagon, the PR pillow and mikey is carrying his infamous boogie board that shoots out water



Michael begins to question his ability to find the perfect spot, especially when he sees other families schleping their stuff out of their cars and into their wagons. Did everyone else have the same thought he did? Wake up early and find their very own perfect spot. We turn the corner to where the park is and sure as a fat kid loves cake…they DID! There are tents, blankets and lots of areas taped off by “caution tape”, we even saw a child using their stuff animals to block off an area for their family…with a look of “Back off Lady, my Suzie the Bugaloo will eat you if you even think about stepping over here!”

It seems Michael did not get the memo that stated, “ Its 4th of July People and we’re doing it all over again this year, so if you wish to find your perfect spot, remember wake up before the rooster, pack all your crap and camp out until the park opens at 6am to find a location, however we must warn you: should you try to set up before 6am, the Setup Po Po will confiscate your items and “disgard” them”

Psh “disgard” when in actuality means, “if you got something worth keeping….WE’RE KEEPING IT!!!”







Well it was not so bad, we actually found a nice spot to set up camp…camp, yyiiyeah, pretty much feels like that. Michael pulled out the ice chests, chairs, table, umbrellas, blankets, lamp, cantene, compass….ooh sorry got carried away there, no cantene no compass…it was a water bottle and the iPhone does come with a compass app, thank you very much….but he actually did have the LAMP!


Michael not ONLY has to show everyone he's a PROUD Puerto Rican but also a PROUD Yankee and Giants Fan! ...ps the Redskin ice chest belongs to my brother that why its hidden.




When its all set up and completed, I start BBMing Isis (Oh, for those of you not Blackberry savvy, this is BlackBerryMessengering). We go back and forth about if daddy brought all the madness, I tell her yes. Did Daddy drive you crazy trying to get all the stuff in the car, I tell her yes. Did Mikey bring some new item of the day that he cant live without…that would be the boogie board that shoots out water, I tell her yes. Hahaha’s go back and forth and THEN…it HITS me! Isis will be a resident of New York this time next year and she’s there now and that means: last year’s 4th of July would have been the last 4th of July we spend with her…..I begin to weep…and then cry. Had I known, I would have done something more special for her last year, but I cant and wont be able to. I get sadder and sadder…then Michael having no clue to my revelation…looks up and has that look… “What the Hell did I do now!?”

I proceed to tell him what happened and my tears fall, he looks at me with a serious look and says, “If her grades arent up to where they need to be, she aint going no where, so take back those tears, Woman!”

Leave it to Michael to take the seriousness out of a “moment”.

So, that meltdown has demonstrated one of two things to me:


1. I need to be able to accept my daughter growing up and beginning her own new adventures and know that she’ll always have us for guidance.


Or

2. I sabotage the hell out of her studies so her grades are crap, she stays in California, goes to a Junior College locally and live with us forever!

Michael says I need to suck it up and let her begin her adventure starting June 2011; I have to say that I agree with him.

As parents its our job that we create a road map of …life, if you will, for our children. So when we’re rasing them they could see all the road blocks that we experienced and manage to create alternative roads for our end result whether they be good, bad or ugly but we experienced LIFE. Though the road was not always paved to perfection, it still got us to where we were going. We must trust ourselves to know that we were sufficient guides and that they take what they have learned and begin to create their own map and make their mark that says:

“My parents raised me right and I was here!”

By the way…4th of July was pretty good. We had a ball, Mikey never made it to the pool and therefore the boogie board never saw the water once but Mikey still had the time of his life. He entered a Hula Hoop contest was labeled the Hula Hoop Champ (didnt even know my son could Hula Hoop). I got a chance to see some old friends and enjoy a “drink” with them.
Michael,Mikey and I watched an amazing firework show and I still managed to share the day with my daughter via BBM and uploading pix on FB.
All is well with this Mama.......at least for the moment until i decide to reminisce through my daughter's room and the water works begin again, that is.

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I'm a writer that writes from the heart...and emotion (ergo, the name of my blog). Most of what I write about, I have had first hand experience in. Anything I review does not say I am an expert...I only write what I THINK and whether I like it or not! Not how the rest of the world should think or feel. I am Mexican/Italian and a Leo..again..why my blog is called the World of Emotion!! Hope you enjoy what I have to say and/or review. Enjoy!