Oh, The Irony

Being a stay-at-home-mom, I take my job of never being home seriously. What? Was that a little known secret to the world? Oops. But seriously, I know few SAHMs that aren't running everywhere all the time. I spent more time at home when I worked. It's ridiculous.

Where am I going all the time? Take today. It was a typical day. Becky had to work, and doesn't yet have her license, so I drove her to work, then spent $60 on dog food and toilet paper while in town. (I know, I live a life to be envied.) I came home, knocked a few things off my to-do list, waited for the boys to get home from school, and went to watch Josh's basketball game. I was out twice today. It was typical. Some days I do nothing but come and go. Or I'm simply just gone.

Sam has a lot to say about that. Or more correctly, he repeats the same line frequently. "You know with the cost of gas, you should probably stay home more often." Of course, this is generally followed by something akin to, "Are you coming to town today? I need....." I've been chided for driving 4 miles to the bike trail. I've been glared at for taking the kids to the state park, 2 miles up the road. And let's not even talk about the times I decide I need to go to the mall. I'll give him that one; it's an hour away.

**********************

Any time we are driving and Micah sees a playground, he points and nearly ruins the springs in his seat with all his bouncing with joy and enthusiasm. The boy is not a respecter of playgrounds, either. A school, a park, a church, a simple swingset, an elaborate gymset - they're all worthy of exclamation and glee.

We drove to Virginia for vacation last Christmas, and as we were close our destination, Micah saw a playground. As far as he was concerned, we drove 3 hours JUST to play there. Except we forgot to stop.

After a particularly enthusiastic pointing session at a playground that we drove by, Sam asked what the closest playground was to our house. We debated whether it would be the state park or the school, and then Sam said something that almost made me laugh out loud. At him.

"We should make an effort to take Micah to playgrounds more often. He's 9 and still loves playing. He'll soon be too big for them and we'll wish we'd have taken him more often."

To you, it probably sounds like a really sentimental dad-type statement, which is also laugh worthy. Becky laments the fact that she has no clue how to wrap her father around her finger. And she's the only daughter. I'm the softie in the family, not Sam. The kids know that if they ask their dad to take them out for ice cream after dinner, they're wasting their breath. You can almost see him calculating the cost of gas for a frivolous trip that would spend even more unnecessary money. The kids just don't ask dad; they ask mom. So you see why I laughed at the fact that Sam is taking Micah to parks after school? Don't get me wrong, I love it. A lot. I just find it ironically amusing.

But not surprisingly, it's one of the new highlights of our day.