88 Bouncy Balls

My 14yo son is a collector.

He collects the usual, stickers, Pokémon cards, but also the unusual random trinkets. If it’s small and he can gather a lot of it, he’s happy.

So last night he went with his friends to Main Event for a band outing, and after playing games he had 500 points to redeem. What did he choose? Not candy. Not a cool gadget. Nope. He walked away with a bag of 50 bouncy balls.

Why? I have no idea. But it was very him.

When I got there to pick him up, his sister wanted to play one last game of laser tag. I was chatting with the lady running it, joking about how I’d beat everyone, and she invited me to play too. I said no at first, I hadn’t paid, I was just the mom, but she waved me in anyway. So I stashed my purse, Emily’s purse, and Henry’s bag of 50 bouncy balls in a cubby and went in.

It was hilarious. Both of my kids ended up on the opposite team from me, so I had to shoot them, and they definitely got their revenge by ganging up on me. I’m pretty sure every kid in that arena wanted to shoot the mom.

.

When the game ended, Henry immediately ran to check his score on the monitor. I was grabbing our stuff and yelled out across the room:

“Henry! Do you have your balls?”…“Henry! Do you have your ball sack?”

And then I realized what I was shouting. In public. Surrounded by middle schoolers (insert eyeroll here).

Sure enough, the bag was missing.

The same staff member who waived me in saw me and Henry searching the cubbies. She explained she’d kicked out a kid earlier for breaking rules, and he had claimed those balls as his. She tried but couldn’t track him down. As a consolation, she gave Henry a few handfuls of balls, about 25. Henry? He just said “thank you” and accepted them with total grace, even though he knew he’d lost half his prize. I was proud of him.

As we walked out, guess who we saw? The kid, with Henry’s bag of balls. He was with his mom. I asked, “Is that my son’s bag of balls?” The kid muttered something about finding it on the floor (sure, kid) and handed it back. His mom just gave me that mom-look, the one that says, yeah, this is something my kid does. And honestly, I couldn’t even be mad. We all have things we’re teaching out of our kids.

So in the end, Henry walked in with 50 bouncy balls… and left with 88.

He’s already scheming to drop them down the stairs for “scientific purposes.” I told him he’d better count all 88 first, and all 88 better be accounted for at the end. With two babies in the house that could swallow bouncy balls, it's important to be safe. Also, I am not finding stray bouncy balls until Christmas.

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Life is messy and loud and beautiful—and so are you. At Kristian Hutchings Portraits, I’ve built an experience that takes you out of the everyday and into a space where you’re pampered, posed, and celebrated. From professional hair and makeup to portraits you’ll treasure for a lifetime, this is more than photos—it’s a chance to finally put yourself first.

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Kristian is a mom of six, Program Manager by day, active Professional Photographer by trade, and a big believer in finding beauty in the everyday chaos.

Life in our house is loud, messy and full of literally everything. Love, noise, laundry, laughter, and definitely could use a bit more grace. I'm happily married to my best friend, grounded in my Catholic faith, and fueled by five to six hours of sleep per night and adrenaline.

I try to find joy in the everyday — even when it's wild, because without the little bit of joy, this life would be unbearable. This space is for the moms in the middle of it all: the ones juggling family, faith, work, and wonder. The ones that need someone else's messy life to make their own seem better or somewhat normal. You're not alone, and you're doing better than you think.

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