Friday Night

How do you spend your Friday night?

Me? I whoop it up with a couple of wild child(s)

Seriously.

You may not realize this, but I am married to the Vice President of Sask Holstein Branch. From time to time, his responsibilities take him on the road and today was one of those days. So it was the kids and I left to par-tay. ;)

Seeing as it snowed most of the day, (and we’re totally over snow right now… April 25^th) it was an inside day. I knew that it would be a long evening if we just stayed home and hung out, plus I didn’t feel like cooking, so we went out.

I loaded my three into our SUV at 4:30pm and headed into Saskatoon with a mission to find two birthday gifts for friends and supper. Simple, right? Wrong. Let me break it down.

Driving with three small children is actually quite enjoyable seeing as we have a portable DVD player with two screens for my eldest two munchkins to watch. Today, I was serenaded by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I drove. I am often amused by J and Lena as they actively participate with what they’re viewing. “It’s  an owl!” I heard Jetty call out to the screen.

Halfway to the city, Jetty informs me, “Mom, I have to pee!” which makes me step on the gas just a little more. There have been times where I just pull over and let him go beside our vehicle, but that’s on more remote roads. I have standards! ;)

I pull into Walmart, park and transfer my three precious ones into a cart: Lena in the front, Zavi (in his carseat) inside the cart and Jett hanging onto the end, standing on the bottom bar. We quickly maneuver our way to the washroom and pull up into a very dirty handicap stall. I try to help Jett onto the toilet without him completely undressing himself. In hindsight, I maybe should have had him take off his bulky winter jacket. I don’t know how he did it, but he managed to pee all over the back of his own pants. Of course, I had neglected to bring a change of clothes for him, so we added a new pair of pants to our shopping list.

When I’m shopping by myself, I can select gifts for kids in mere minutes, but with my “consultants,” we use much more time. EVERY option is considered (and tested- they press every possible button that makes noise) and several reminders that we are not shopping for ourselves are given. We made it out of the toy section alive and with only the gifts we went in to buy, but barely ;)

We went by the bikes and Jetty tried one out. I actually wanted him to so I could have a reference for what size of bike I should keep my eyes open for at garage sales in the coming weeks. Of course, Kalena couldn’t just watch Jett try bikes, she wanted in on that action. We weren’t in a rush, so I obliged her but it was then that I realized that her entire behind was soaked! We added ANOTHER pair of pants to our shopping list…

In the end, we spent almost TWO HOURS in Walmart. We soaked two pairs of pants, visited the washroom twice, bought two pairs of pants and bought two birthday gifts. Kalena also gave several performances of “Jesus loves me” around the store, so we can add 'evangelism' to our evening ;)

We went to the Preston Crossing Burger King for supper because the kids love the play area there. Also, it was nearly 7pm and not busy, which is a bonus. I helped Jett and Lena get their boots/jackets off so they could start playing in the play area while I got us some grub. I took Zavi with me and had my eyes on the play area pretty much the whole time. There was no one in line, so I could order quickly and go back and forth from the play area and food counter transferring drinks, napkins, ketchup, etc.

A boy came out of the play area crying and said that another boy had bit him, and my heart nearly stopped. Jett has never bit anyone (maybe when he was really young—I can’t remember) but I worried because I wasn’t right in there providing steady supervision. When a different young boy was hauled out by his dad and made to apologize for the biting, I was SO relieved that my two active kiddos were not involved!

I quickly got our dinner into the play area where we could eat, the kids could play and I was close at hand to ‘manage’ them. ;) They actually play really well there. Jett had made some buddies and they were racing through the climbing apparatus at lightning speed.  Jett was sad when his buddies had to leave and he was left with his mom and sister ;)

Another brother/sister duo came to play and Jett coached Lena on how to go make a friend. It was the cutest (and funniest thing). Kalena showed us how coachable she is and followed her brother’s lead in approaching a girl who was at least three times her age and asking her if she wanted to be her friend. Jett was not-so-discreetly watching his protégé from around a corner.

Jett and Kalena climbed up and slid down the slide many times, which I was glad for so they could burn up some energy on a more sedentary day. By the time we ate, played and I fed Zavi, it was at least 8, and time to get home. Of course my diaper wearing 2 yr old had a stinky “treat” for me to take care of before we could take off. What a glamorous life I lead. ;)

We made it home, and I quickly got the kiddos to bed. I only had to re-enter their room one time to tell Jett to quit kicking the wall.

And we call it a night.

I often fear that I will forget what life is like right now when my children are all grown up. There are very few times I remember to document the things my kiddos do and say, but they really are hilarious. I cherish this time with them. I’m excited to see who they become and what God has planned for them in the future, but I don’t want to forget who they are now.

My children are each a work of art. :)