Live and Learn

When you're a parent, packing for any kind of vacation/trip can seem like a daunting task. No matter how many lists I put together, how far in advance I start laying things out, how many run-throughs I do on the day we're leaving, I'd bet money that we will get 2 blocks away and realize that I've left something behind. It makes me wonder...I'm pretty sure Brad questions my sanity. Having said that, there are a few redeeming moments in parenthood. Times where a sliver of insight turns out to be the best thing possible.

Case in point: We headed out to Sanibel Island this past weekend, a place we've been to many times. We love it there--calm, quiet, peaceful...and seashells as far as the eye can see. For just a quick weekend trip, we threw some clothes in the suitcase and some sunscreen in the beach bag. For whatever reason, I thought to grab Ben's inner tube--the one he uses for swimming in the pool. I stood in the living room, holding the inner tube, knowing full well that we would not be near a swimming pool at all during the trip...but something--call it maternal instinct, a mother's intuition--told me to pack it anyway.

Fast forward 12 hours and we're in coastal paradise, unloading our chairs/umbrella/buckets...and the inner tube. Brad and Ben set off to build a sand castle and I assumed my normal Sanibel-position...hunched over, looking for shells. (Uh, sidenote--this is NOT an easy task when you're in your third trimester. Just sayin'.) About 30 minutes later, the boys were hot and wanted to hop into the water to cool off. So, I asked Ben if he wanted to try and wear his tube. I gave him 5 minutes, tops, with keeping that thing on. Not that it's uncomfortable, but we weren't in a pool--it was the ocean. Again...fast forward about an hour and a half...

...the kid was in heaven. He swam, came back on shore, turned around and went right back out. In total, he (and Brad) probably spent a good 2-1/2 hours in the ocean that afternoon. (I, of course, assumed another position on the shore...wildlife watchdog--I was convinced that if I didn't keep an eye out, the 2 loves of my life would be eaten by a shark...but that's another blog post entirely.)

Anyway, I still don't know what made me grab that inner tube before leaving our house and hitting the road...but my point is this: I am that much wiser for the next trip.

Every once in a while, amidst the frazzled craziness of being a road-tripping parent, you have a shining moment where you feel like the most brilliant--borderline psychic, even--genius on the planet...a moment where you think to yourself, "hey--I'm not such an idiot after all."

And then you realize that you left your flat iron on and you have to turn around anyway.