Well, this one will be short. It has been a crazy, fun filled week in the land of the Johnston’s. It was my oldest son’s 3rd birthday on Friday. He is such an amazing kid, but aren’t all kids amazing? He is funny, smart, kind and gentle (when he is not slamming cupboard doors closed with his hockey stick). He gives the best hugs and never fails to give kisses right on lips.
We researched an apple orchard in the area and planned to go apple picking with our children. It was a beautiful and sunny with a welcoming chill in the air on lovely fall day. With the leaves changing, heading to Port Stanley made for a wonderful drive, listening to our favourite soundtrack, The Greatest Showman. And the birthday boy’s favourite to listen to in the car right now. We passed a pumpkin market on the way there and the kids were super excited since we haven’t picked our pumpkins yet this year. With the kids in the back seat saying “Can we go? can we go?”, and our response being “We will see.” Our standard go to parent response to diffuse any further negotiations coming from the backseat.
We made it to the apple orchard and had a great time filling up our bags of apples. We even went into the store afterwards to get an apple pie, apple butter and apple cider. Apparently, apple butter is not as common as one would think. Maybe because Taunya and I grew in Waterloo Region, apple butter was a staple for us, like pig tails and rolled ribs (not that I ever took part in eating pig tails). With our apples, and apple products in tow, we headed home for lunch. My son loves to eat and his request for his birthday lunch and dinner was hot dogs and pizza.
With the car loaded up and only a little bit of room for pumpkins, we made the impromptu decision to stop at the pumpkin market we passed on the way to the apple orhcard. To our surprise the market had fresh cut fries and hot dogs! We put a blanket down by the car and had a picnic on the side of the highway. Tripp was in his glory as he watched the transport trucks, and cars drive by. There was even a motorcycle that Tripp noticed and pointed to. The motorcyclist actually saw Tripp point and decided to showboat and popped a wheelie on the highway. Most definitely not helping us deter his like and excitement for motorcycles. We finished up lunch, picked some pumpkins and hopped back in the car to head home with our bellies full and ketchup on our faces.
You may be asking why I am sharing these details about his birthday or maybe you are not. But I am sharing this, because I will never miss another chance to spend an entire day with my child on his or her birthday. We can not say for certain, if he will remember this birthday, but I know I will. When we are so busy making plans to keep children occupied, we miss out on the chances to stop and get “hot dogs and fries.” We get so caught up in the day to day of planning everything, we forget that it is okay to let things unfold and happen as they may. If I was still working the standard 9 to 5, I would have had 2 potentials. I would have taken the day off and still looked at my phone for problem emails, fearing that something is going wrong that I need to be available for OR I would have been sitting at my desk looking at the clock waiting and watching 3:31pm pass and missing the moment to share with my son, the memory and story of when I first held him. We named him Robert, like my Mom and Dad named me, a beautiful gift in honour of my Dad. Our little Robert goes by Tripp since he is a 3rd generation (www.thehearthappyfamily.ca/post/this-is-why - Check out a previous post about my Dad).
I understand we all do not have the same opportunities and we all have different paths. I am still unsure about the how, but it’s moments like the ones we experienced together on Friday, that will make me fight and go down kicking and screaming until we succeed at what we are trying to accomplish (www.thehearthappyfamily.ca/post/don-t-worry-about-the-how - Check out my previous post on the How).
Logging off for now,
Rob
"Your life is like a play with several acts. Some of the characters who enter have short roles
to play, others, much larger. Some are villains and others are good guys.
But all of them are necessary; otherwise, they wouldn’t be in the play.
Embrace them all, and move on to the next act."
- Wayne Dyer
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