Some Musings from Memorial Day
Toddlers are so funny. As my husband and I were putting my son to bed tonight, his parting words before I laid him down were "hot dog!" He uttered them with such gusto and enthusiasm, and the biggest grin on his face. I've come to appreciate his well-timed comedy and ability to overlook the crummy things that have happened throughout the day.
Most of today was really wonderful, but it's funny how just one wrong thing can make you think the whole day is ruined. Ethan and I spent a fun day at my Grannie's house, where he played and played and refused to nap because he might miss out on playtime. By the time we had to leave to go home, he was absolutely exhausted, but it was the good kind that comes with a fulfilling day of doing baby-things. I was prepared for a quiet ride home, listening to my favorite podcast while he napped, but of course things never go quite the way we plan...
Just after I had stopped to get a pretzel twist and a soda from Sonic, my car started loudly dinging at me. I looked down to realize that it was urgently signaling me that it was overheating!
Confused, I pulled off the road and into a parking lot to assess the situation. I was further confused and upset upon realizing that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, and my sweet little baby was asleep in the backseat. AND it was 90 degrees outside and we were stuck in this car with no A/C while we waited for someone to come help us.
Enter the day being ruined.
Luckily, I was still close enough to my Grannie's house that she was able to come and sit with me while we waited for James to arrive and (hopefully) save the day. Unluckily, things didn't really get better. My car didn't make the trip home and I had to leave it in a parking lot until I could get a tow to the dealership to have it repaired. And then James's fender broke on his car on the way home, and it seemed like this was just the worst of the worst.
But then, Ethan, in all his infinite baby wisdom, reminded me that I was looking at things wrong. The car breaking down hadn't put much of a damper on what he'll remember of the day. All he knows is that he played with his Grannie, had a good nap on the way home, and got to eat a hot dog for dinner, which he was very proud of at bedtime.
I realized that I need to see things more like he does. There are more fun and amazing things in this life than there are bad.
And thank you to all our men and women in uniform, who allow me the freedom and security to be upset about my dumb car and be able to complain about it on the internet.
How was your Memorial Day?