As most of you might have guessed, I am married to the most amazing person on the planet. As I watch him do the laundry or wash the floors I wonder how I got so lucky. He is truly a wonderful person, and definitely brilliant. But even with all of these amazing attributes I have to wonder about some of the ideas that run through this person’s mind. I truly believe that I am married to a down to earth and logical person however, at times and especially with the kids it would seem that he is on another planet. In some respects I see attributes my own father ( not doing the laundry or washing the dishes as I never saw that while I was growing up), but the intense need to give his children everything even if it is -12 degrees and freezing outside. Why am I explaining this? Well, today was one of those days that reminded me of times when I was younger.
Today we woke up to the most beautiful sight. We finally had snow. As we slept, a blanket of the white, fluffy stuff covered the ground. My husband got up and looked outside and thought to himself that today would be a great day to pull out the toboggan out and find the closest hill. At around 1pm, when we had sufficiently loafed the morning away he decided that we were going to tobogganing. So, we got all of the kids dressed in warm clothes, snowpants, snow jackets, hats, gloves – the works. It was at this point that we noticed that I had left my 2-year-old’s snow boots at school. So, if you can imagine here are my kids all dressed up, looking like mini sumo wrestlers, bumping into each other left and right, but no boots. After an exhaustive search we found a pair and quickly shoved them on to my son’s feet. The baby is dressed and screaming because he is hot and is not used his snowsuit. My son is dressed, my daughter is dressed and my husband is wearing a hat which never happens.
As we all get into the car, about an hour and a half later, we drive to the nearest hill. We unload everyone and start up the hill. At this point I can’t see, the baby is cold, but my husband who is determined to have this moment is taking my 2 year old on a sled up the hill with my 6-year-old trailing faithfully behind. It takes them about 3 minutes (that’s two runs) to figure out that this is not a good idea. There isn’t enough snow, the kids are two heavy to both be on the sled, so they have to maneuver themselves down the hill, and there is my poor husband who is slowly losing faith in the plan. At this point I am in the car driving around the parking lot with the baby, and watching them try in vain to have a good time. My daughter abandons the sled in lieu of making snow angels, and my son just wants out.
So, to recap it took 1 hour and 30 minutes to get them ready and into the car and exactly 3 minutes to realize that this was not the best idea. The look on my husband’s face was priceless, he looked so disappointed and frustrated. It was really sad, but as I’m writing this with tears running down my cheeks from laughing so hard, I imagine that this was how my mother felt so very long ago. When I was little my father wanted his children to enjoy the splendor that was the Pennsylvanian caves. So, one year on our way to Florida, he shleped my brothers and I to the Pennsylvanian caves. These brochure stated that the caves were open 365 days a year , so my dad thought it would be a good idea to go on Christmas. The 366th day on the calendar, the one day that they were closed. I can just see my mother’s face as we made our way back to the car to tell her it was closed. That was the same face I had today.
I truly believe that we learn something from every experience. So, what did I learn from today? If your husband comes up with an idea, that you know is not going to work out, it is best to let him have the moment and then blog about it later:)
One Crazy Mom,
Jen
My Crazy Life as a Woman, Wife and Mother 