Both boys were hurled into the van, Caleb strapped in with no socks or shoes on. "Mommy, what are we doing? I don't want to go naked!" (He was fully-clothed minus socks and shoes. Oh, the drama.)
"We're going for a drive, boys. Mommy's had enough." I grabbed my purse and a few checks that I needed to deposit at the bank. I didn't even take time to put on "real clothes," and I slipped my crocs on, knowing I wouldn't be getting out of the van anywhere.
It had been a rough morning. I had let the boys play as they wished which meant a lot of not sharing and a huge mess all over the house. Looking around, I could see that I would have been better off spending the morning playing too, but a drive would give us a change of scene and a fresh start and so off we drove.
Our epic adventure included stopping at the bank drive-through to make our deposits and, of course, to get stickers. Then we drove by the construction site at the college (always a big crowd-pleaser around here) and then drove a few blocks north so Starbucks could give me some renewed vision for the rest of the day.
As we headed home, I realized that just leaving the house was all it took to change the course of the whole day. I felt like I had gotten something done, the boys were certain they had gotten a special adventure, and as I carried them into the house (remember no shoes) I was grateful for the inspiration.
Sometimes a sudden turn is all it takes to change the destination of the day. And right now, I hope that each day's journey includes a funny moment (not hard with a toddler in the house), an eye-to-eye conversation with each of my men, and a new discovery. Today we discovered that if you stick two stickers back to back, they are not really fun anymore. It's the little things, ya know.
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