Ten Dollars

Tonight I am hosting cooking club, and the thought of three women cooking in my little kitchen with me has motivated me to clean it.  Now, I am an expert at the "quick wipe down," consisting of a sponge over all the counters, and the top surfaces of appliances.  But deep cleaning??  Who has time for that?  But today I cleaned blinds and the layered-with-dirt window, took everything off the fridge to wipe it down, and even moved the microwave to clean behind it.  Epic cleaning for this gal.  My boys helped dust, and I routinely moved the pile of paperwork from the kitchen counter to my bedroom desk where it can hide behind a closed door.  In the midst of this cleaning (along with solving sibling squabbles and cleaning out diapers and putting flowers in tiny vases for dinner), I realized I needed to hurry out the door to the bank before it was too late.  So leaving all as it was in the house, and throwing a hat on over my ponytail and the kids in their carseats, I grabbed the diaper bag and left to drive to town on this gorgeous, fall-like day.  While we were out and my kids were enjoying their free dum-dums from the bank, I got an itch to be spontaneous.  Now, if you know me well, you know I am a planner.  I am the kind of girl who knows where I am going and has lists on hand.  I have extra outfits in my diaper bag at all times, and I always carry snacks and water bottles and diaper rash cream and extra diapers and wipes...just in case.  We keep a portable highchair and picnic blankets (actually, three of them) in the van at all times...just in case.  And I feel better living like that.  But today, I decided we were going to be spontaneous.  So we went through the McDonalds drive-thru and got a bag of nuggets and fries and a sweet tea...I know, I know, the lunch of champions...and threw one of those picnic blankets down at the little, quiet neighborhood park that I grew up going to for a picnic.  No phone calls.  No friends.  No agenda.  Just me and my kiddos dipping our nuggets on a purple blanket under a tree.  We ate and talked and ran around that little playground that we had all to ourselves.  We jumped on the bridge, played tic-tac-toe, and did underdogs on the swing.  And I laughed.  I laughed with my kids and breathed in the fresh air and treasured the sounds of my sweet children giggling with delight about a ride on the swings.  It was exactly what I needed...a break.  A break from the normal, a break from lunch dishes, a break from discipline.  Just us, playing and laughing and eating a ten-dollar lunch.  I know the meal wasn't healthy, but the kids can eat their vegetables later.  We left the house a mess, but that will always get done.  Ella went to nap with dirty feet, but who cares?  They can get washed later.  It was a break, and it was exactly what I needed.

And sometimes, the ten dollars is worth it.