Enthusiasm was the word for this year. 

As Frank and I jumped into Barton Springs last New Year’s Day, that’s the word that came to mind as I looked ahead in the newly rung year. I knew the kids and I would be moving into his house over the summer, and although everyone was generally looking forward to the change, it was a Really Big Change.

Bumps were inevitable, but having enthusiasm readily available would help us move forward with positive energy, excitement and hope.

When we did hit those difficult moments, our enthusiasm came in handy again and again.

We wrapped up the year with a short trip to Dallas earlier this week, where everyone remembered to pack their enthusiasm. (This was particularly helpful when we had to stand in line for an hour to ice skate at the Galleria, but it was totally worth it.) 

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We spent two nights sleeping under the neon lights of a recently renovated Art Deco hotel called the Renaissance Saint Elm. We played backgammon in the chic lobby and walked to dinner at the sushi bar, gawking at the Giant Eye and AT&T Discovery District.

My kids have been going to art museums with me since they were nestled into a baby carrier on my chest, and now it’s one of my most treasured activities with them. They’ve grown to enjoy museums in their own ways, and the Dallas Museum of Art never lets us down. 

Sitting on a bench with them, in the middle of the gallery, having quiet conversations about the art we are looking at or where we want to go next in the museum or how much that Monet painting could possibly be worth — that was the moment that the whole holiday season, the whole year, the whole effort to blend a family, felt worth it. 

It wasn’t about the enthusiasm needed to get there; it was about the satisfaction we felt when we got there.