Five and Under

As an American living in Brazil, I am always amazed at the plethora of holidays. I have learned to get into the spirit of these usually extended weekends. (Thursday is the actual holiday but let's add Friday and keep "holiday-ing" until Sunday.) So my friend Tati and I headed to the beach as soon as the final school bell rang on Wednesday, five carseats for five children five and under--husbands scheduled to join the following day.

Highlights:

1. I often just write in my calendar "holiday" on these days off from school and work, never stopping to research the significance of the day. So this morning I googled the date: Corpus Christi. In parenthesis I see the word "feast". Could that be why we ate ten days worth of calories in five days?

2. Or maybe we ate so much because of the cold? There isn't much to do at the beach when it is chilly. So the moments we managed to keep the children (all with runny noses) from shivering on the beach and threatening to enter into the cold ocean current (they entered), we barbecued daily.

3. Or perhaps we ate so much because of the kids? As much as we love all five of them, at times we decided that distilled spirits and snacks would help in dealing with strong little personalities. We couldn't help but notice that at every moment of the day 1 of 5 was crying, whining, or fighting with their buddy. ("Mommy, Mathias told me he will never be my friend again or go to my birthday party.") Negotiate. Compromise. Soothe. Munch. Inbibe.

4. "Tonight is Gonna Be a Good Good Night Oooooh Ooooh!" The soundtrack of the holiday weekend. Little voices singing and shaking pint size parts to the Black Eyed Peas. The adults changing the words for the mini crew: "Tonight I am going to sleep in my own bed all night Ooooh Oooooh!" The children thinking it hilarious. (And me relieved to know that I am not the only one whose children love to swap beds throughout the night.)

We all came back tired and refreshed....already scheming the next holiday.