Day 489: First comes love, then comes marriage...

Friends of ours got married yesterday, so I washed the yogurt from the morning's food fight out of my hair and off we went. Maddie came to the ceremony with us - her first time in a Church, much to my mother-in-law's chagrine. We came armed with her ever-present blanket, her teddy bear, and a tupperware full of cookies which quickly ended up smeared all over Fernando's new tie. She did remarkably well, actually, until she got the idea in her head to attempt to army crawl underneath the pews to freedom. But Fernando managed to drag her up and get her out before the screaming ensued, and so she spent the rest of the ceremony tottering about the church courtyard.

The wedding itself was lovely, as weddings tend to be. Really, what is nicer than seeing two people in love? Especially wedding day love, with wonderful times behind you and endless possibilities ahead. For that day, you are not thinking about getting the garbage out, getting the baby to bed, getting the bills paid. Your love is beautiful and sparkly and has nothing more to endure than some pre-speech jitters and a few drunk guests. Ah, am I sounding a tad bitter here? Fernando and I will be celebrating 4 years of wedded bliss next month, and we're lucky because for the most part they have been blissful. It can be tricky, though, navigating these waters with a child in tow. Suddenly everything becomes that little bit more complicated. Now it's not just that the car is low on gas - it's that the car is low on gas and Maddie is crying in the backseat and we're 20 minutes late for naptime and I can't remember where I put my wallet because my memory has gone to hell. I guess it can just be harder to smell the roses through the stench of the diaper pail. I try to remind myself that the key, as with most things, is to keep a good perspective. A torn apart kitchen, a pile of laundry, a screaming baby, a sleepless night... all trials, to be sure, but nothing that hasn't been survived a million times over, nothing that can sink the ship.

The father of the bride got up and said a really sweet speech and I cried through the whole thing. He talked about being there when she was born, watching her grow up and become the person she is today. It made me think about Maddie, and about how if we're very lucky Fernando will be the one making that speech one day. For so many reasons I would never say that this parenting job is easy. But I would never say it's not worth it, either. (Okay, actually, on a really bad day I might say that because I sometimes succumb to hysterics and exaggeration... but I wouldn't mean it.)