“Ain’t it funny how life changes?” Thomas Rhett sang the words, but I’m certainly living them.
Jordan and I are sharing 30-packs of diapers with the same friends we used to share 30-packs of Natty Light.
Instead of hanging at the pool bar in Punta Cana with Penn State Greek Life, we’re spending Saturdays at Goldfish Swim School with Charlie.
Bottle service no longer means popping champagne at a night club. It now means feeding Jack with Mommy’s milk supply.
Instead of borrowing outfits for the Thursday night social, Jordan and her friends are passing around maternity clothes.
March Madness used to consist of watching basketball games at the bar or getting ready for daylong season at Penn State. Now we spend it spring cleaning the yard and waiting for the daffodils to bloom.
The Kids’ Table at family gatherings is no longer occupied by me and my cousins. It’s occupied by our kids.
My Instagram feed is filled with new babies and new homes. My conversations are about potty training and patio projects. My calendar is filled with home maintenance and pediatrician appointments. I find myself sitting on the lawn mower on Saturdays instead of the bar stool.
My Dad warned me about this life stage. Long ago he said, “Son, there will come a time when parties will end long before your pre-games used to begin.” I thought he was joking. He wasn’t.
And all month, I kept looking around my home and seeing obvious signs of the change.
A few weeks ago, gathered around a table full of Coronas, Margaritas, and Chicken Enchiladas were some of my best friends and all of our kids. We had to take turns eating. The conversations were choppy. It was hard to sit long enough to enjoy a drink without having to clean up a spill or fetch something from the diaper bag. But there was something special about the chaos.
A week later, I looked up from the burgers sizzling on the grill to see my Grandmom, Aunts, sister and cousins playing with toddlers and babies all over the backyard. It was the same yard where we used to play when we were little kids visiting Grandmom and Pop Pop’s house. The sound of “Mom…Dad…I need a snack” was no longer coming from us, but rather directed at us. And there was something beautiful about the sights and sounds.
A week later, Jordan’s best friends from high school and the driving force behind many of my Sea Isle shenanigans over the years, came over for an afternoon filled with children’s books and “baby talk.” While we did spend a lot of the time rehashing old stories, that’s all they are now…old stories. We also spent time sharing sleep training techniques and comparing stages of development. Nevertheless, seeing the way we’ve grown up, I couldn’t help but smile.
These are the friends and family that Jordan and I grew up with. These are the people we learned from and leaned on as we navigated through many stages of life to get to this point. We’ve gone from sitting at the “Kids’ Table” to actually having kids of our own. And now, as adults, homeowners, parents and aspiring professionals, we’re going to continue learning from and leaning on these people as we navigate through the stages of life that lie ahead. We will be there to lend each other a hand or just hand over a glass of wine when we need it most. We will be the “village” that our children are raised in. And if our kids can forge the same friendships and family bonds that we were lucky enough to have, the future will be special.
Because I picture Hudson Rustad and Jack Janiec giggling and spitting sunflower seeds in the Little League dugout after JJ Walter strikes them both out. I envision drinks on the deck with the Reids after Maddie and Charlie’s East Girls Soccer game. I can taste the Coronas and Seltzers on the beach with the Fuentes or McDonalds while the kids build sandcastles in front of us. I can hear the tennis ball volleying back and forth on a Sunday afternoon with our friends as our children run around our backyard. I picture my cousins and siblings running “Camp Janiec” with our kids the same way Grandmom and Pop Pop did for us. I’m fired up for the birthday parties, backyard BBQs, sporting events, and after school functions. And I can’t wait to meet all those kiddos that haven’t arrived yet as the crew and family continues to expand.
The journey will be fun, the changes will be overwhelming, the challenges will be stressful, but the moments will be worth it. They already are.
This April, I’d like to wish a happy 1st birthday to Drea Ayoub and JJ Walter. Welcome to the world, Hudson Rustad. It’s great to finally meet you, Maddie Reid, Madison McDonald, and Milo VanHefter. I can’t wait to see all of you little guys grow…and your parents too.
“Ain’t it funny how life changes?” But like Thomas Rhett says, “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
The Janiec Reflection 