Rain, Rain Go Away

The teen boys went to youth camp this week, leaving Micah home with just Becky and I for companionship. He wasn't happy about this arrangement. To be forced to spend all that time with the girls who insist on doing things like kissing him is just brutal.

In order to help entertain the bored child of mine, I proposed taking him to the zoo. He is invited to the zoo every year by the awesome people who sponsor a night just for kids with disabilities, but that night happened to fall on the same night that baccalaureate was held. And also it was raining that night. Our nephew graduated this year, and he's like another son to us, so we kind of felt obligated to be there for him. Because that's what parents do, even if they're faux parents. And also Micah hates rain.

Except that we'd told Micah he was going to the zoo before I realized that I had previous plans that same night, so he planned on going to the zoo. And he was disappointed at the delay in the going. Mama lied, in other words. I felt that I needed to make that up to him.

So I planned to take Micah to the zoo this past week. Sam was off on Thursday so that was the chosen day. We watched the weather closely because rain has been in the forecast every day since it stopped snowing, I think. It's been ridiculous, this weather. Despite having rain in the forecast in the early part of the week, it didn't actually rain. I still didn't get outside work done like painting because of impending rain undoing all my work, and then the rain had the nerve to never show up. So with just a 30% chance on Thursday, I figured we'd be just fine.

We drove to the 'Burgh and realized that it was rainy.

Well that sucked.

We ate lunch and prayed that it would clear up by the time we were done at the restaurant. Micah excitedly told us of the elephants and lions that he'd see at the zoo. We furtively glanced at each other, wondering how to tell him that he may not see those very things. The boy can be quite skilled at throwing temper tantrums, and he has zero concept of public vs. private behavior. He is who he is. We finally told him that it was raining, and we may not be able to go to the zoo if it continued raining. He pretended not to understand. He was going to see elephants and lions. It would be so fun.

But it's raining. See? Out the window? Rain. We can't go if it rains. We can't see the animals in the rain. (Mostly because he'd refuse to get out of the van. That boy trumps me in the I Hate Getting Wet  department.)

He sulked briefly. He picked at his lunch. He quietly asked to see lions. He watched it rain. He asked to play with daddy's phone. And then he triumphantly pointed out the window and said, "LOOK!" So we did. The sun had come out. I have never seen someone dance a jig while sitting in a chair, but Micah did. As we headed to the van, he declared that he was going to see elephants and lions. "And bears?," I asked. "YES!" Micah said. He was the happiest child at the zoo that day, even if he did get a bit damp in a quick blow-through shower.