It also clung to my car. Four inches of it, and I needed to be at work to teach a class about 7 AM. Somehow, that took a bit of the glitter out of the situation. Especialy since I couldn't remember where I had put the gosh-darn window scraper since last winter...Schools were closed as well, and with both my husband and I in situations where staying home from work was not an option- I was stuck leaving with the knowledge that the 11-year old may be alone and stuck in the house all day.
Six or seven years ago, my parents bought a house that is only a few streets away from ours. And over those last six or seven years, they have saved my butt on hundreds of occasions. Sometimes it has involved something on the simple side of the scale- a cup of sugar, a special sort of tool needed to complete a project, or a place to stash Christmas presents from my nosy husband and son.
But other times it has been a panic call from work asking for help to pick my son up from daycare, take him to a sports practice, or the bus stop on cold and/or snowy days like today. This morning's text involved a mixture of these things, asking if they would mind picking the 11-year old up for the afternoon and hanging out with him so that he wasn't cooped up in the house all day.
Now I trust my 11-year old. He makes relatively good choices. I wasn't expecting fire, or strippers, or even inappropriate cable-watching to occur. But I did have a good hunch that his day would mostly consist of video games, You Tube, and stupid television shows....
Once again, my parents gladly swooped in and ensured that the 11-year old hadn't burned the house down. He spent the afternoon eating Subway for lunch and watching Transformers with Grandma- I get my love for alien robots honestly :).
After needing to spend an extra unanticipated hour at work, I arrived at my parents house tired and hungry. The 11-year old was ready to go home, and I knew that our dogs were probably more than anxious to go outside. I chatted with Mom for a minute, then told the 11-year old to get his shoes on.
"Are you hungry?" Mom asked. "I made lasagna and can put some in a container for you to take home."
I took a moment to think about what awaited me in the fridge at my house....2-day old pizza, less than half of a chicken breast, eggs, or yogurt. Wait. Crap. I ate the yogurt for lunch.
"That sounds great Mom. Thanks."
But that one word- thanks- just isn't enough sometimes, although it is heart felt. As I shrugged off my coat and shoes at home and placed the lasagna in the microwave, I took a moment to realize how lucky I am to have the parents that I do. Because that lasagna was a whole lot tastier than 2-day old pizza.
Tonight's picture represents a parent and grandparent's ability to be able to help out in all sorts of ways, from little to ginormous. I hope that I get the opportunity to be the grandparent that picks up their grandkids at the last moment to help out, allowing the chain of love and support to continue from one generation to the next. They say that everyone eventually turns into their parents- well I for one, am very ok with that.
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