Risking Rain

On the way to the airport this morning, it started raining. There were just light sprinkles, but all the mamas started calling each other discussing rain plans and whether we’d brave the trip anyhow. Each of us had somehow managed to break what we know is an important rule if you don’t want to inadvertently disappoint your kid – we had told our two-year-olds we were going to watch the airplanes. However, breaking that rule of not telling where you are going ahead of time is so much fun, especially when the kid’s face lights up and they clap their hands and say, “Yeah! Airplanes!” So we went for it and as the rain began to pour, I smiled for a good ten minutes at how each of us was willing to potentially endure what could be a miserable experience for the chance that we just might have fun.

Sadly, one of the four of us didn’t make it due to car troubles. Yet another got lost and passed the observation park and had to make a second loop around the terminals. But despite the downpour on the way there, the rain had stopped when we arrived, and the wind even began to let up. At one point we put the three kids up a spider looking jungle gym and serenaded them with “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”. They thought it was great fun to have three goofy mamas singing and doing the hand motions. Tav joined in on the hand motions and Scooby then clapped his hands so vigorously I though he’d knock the other two off the jungle gym. Gibson had a look on her face that said she thought Scooby was a little crazy but the singing was swell. They demanded an encore (Scooby tried to special request a solo later from Regan) and Tav then sang us “Bob the Builder”.

It’s fun seeing the kids connect with each other and cheer when they see one another. I look at their friendships and see elements that I want to be sure to recapture or not let go of in my own friendships – fun, celebration, lack of pretense. Recently, I had a girlfriend paint my toe nails. I was nervous at first and made sure to let my feet air out a good half hour before she started, but I realized that friends don’t mind sweaty feet. They celebrate each other. They might even hold hands now and then.