As parents, our March Madness looks a little differently. First of all, our girls don’t seem to show any interest in sports, which is fine with me. I even took them to a Hoops for Heart basketball tournament at my school a few weeks ago, thinking it would be a relatively easy way to pass the afternoon. Not five minutes after we arrived, all three were whining, “When is this thing going to be over?” I can’t say I was disappointed.

On the other hand, when we went to see the musical Mary Poppins last week at the Buell, the girls were thrilled. As usual, Isabella couldn’t wait to get all dressed up, and had a minor tantrum about her lack of fancy shoes. They loved watching Mary Poppins fly across the stage, and even up into the audience at the end, and were singing the songs and practicing their tap dancing moves for days afterward. I think we might just have ourselves a house full of artists!

This March is especially crazy because I am training for a half marathon, so running like crazy four days a week, still keeping up with all the Girl Scout work, and the girls have just finished their skate lessons in time for all three to begin swim lessons again. Since we’ll be gone all summer in Kentucky, we had to slip the lessons in at an indoor pool starting at the end of March. Meanwhile, we have been filling our days with bike riding, visiting the park down the road that has a new “train” playground, and trying to keep the antsy-sick-of-winter girls busy and happy on cold, snowy days that always plague us at this time of year, just when we think spring has sprung!

And now that all three girls are mobile (truly mobile–able to walk long distances without dragging their feet or complaining too much) and potty trained, I must admit that trips to places like the zoo, museum, or mall are actually more pleasurable. No longer do we have to lug a stroller or a diaper bag every time we go out. I thought for sure I would miss the baby years, and in many ways I do, but I must say, I am enjoying being able to take my girls to places and not having to worry about all the things we must carry. That right there is the best way to handle March Madness: ignore the basketball scores and be thankful for what really matters. And we all know what really matters: kids who can wipe their own butts and walk up four flights of stairs to your balcony seats.