Foiled Plans

Our Saturday plans this weekend were not meant to be. First, my sister and her family were going to visit so we could go to a basketball game. When we realized all the tickets that remained were overpriced nose-bleed seats, they decided not to visit due to Matt’s job news this week (please see A Theory In Relativity). So, we made plans with an old high school friend of Brian’s we have not seen in 4 years. They were to hang out for the day so we could meet their toddler daughter and simply re-connect. Gavin also had a basketball game he was particularly excited about.

Then it came. The ICE. At first, we did not know how bad it would get since the weather was SUPPOSED to warm up throughout the day. Brian got a haircut around 9:00 a.m. When he left, there was no precipitation. By the time he arrived at the salon 15 minutes later, there was enough ice to cause him to slip in the parking lot. By the time he got home, the ice was making walking and driving treacherous. We spoke with our friends and begrudgingly decided this was NOT the best day for a visit. Gavin’s basketball game was also cancelled.

So, what do we do now with two boys who were looking forward to a day of planned activity? Here’s what we did:

First, Brian wrestled (fought, as Grant calls it) with the boys for a while. This is relatively new for Brian since he hasn’t felt up to the task and is at a disadvantage due to his right side deficits. He won anyway. However, once the boys realized there were potentially hazardous-death-trap and pneumonia-inducing conditions in the backyard and on the front driveway, what else could they do but play in them? So, we bundled them up while the sleet and freezing rain pelted them for well over an hour. We checked every once in a while to make sure they were still alive and ensured all their fingers were pink and flesh colored instead of black and rotting from frost-bite.





After they came in soaked to their underwear with snot-ridden noses, we all had hot chocolate with LOADS of marshmallows, followed by a game of “keep the ball off the floor” in the family room. I would call it catch, but if it landed on the couch and didn’t hit the floor, we still counted it. The boys accompanied Brian during his workout and did some treadmill laps. The treadmill time ended when Gavin inadvertently wedged a toy basketball between the frame and belt of the treadmill. That would be why it is normally off-limits.

They played darts while I did Sudoku and laundry.

We had a family dinner during which I actually persuaded Gavin to eat a bite of corn and potatoes and several bites of tenderloin, if you can believe it. At the end of dinner, I didn’t feel like I desperately needed to get away from all things less than 4 feet tall. I actually felt relaxed and I still LIKED my children.

We finished the day with popcorn, jammies and Home Alone 2, Lost in New York. The boys had never seen a Home Alone movie, so they were absolutely rolling-on-the-couch, side-splitting, belly-roar laughing at the scenes when the bandits are slap-stick mangled, injured and caught in all the traps. I don’t know about you, but to me, there is NO BETTER SOUND than genuine childhood laughter.

Foiled plans can sometimes lead to the most blessed, family-fun-filled, relaxing, intimate days you can remember in months. I love when God does that. I am pretty sure He loves doing it, too.
KEEP BELIEVING