Mom, Do You Want to Come With Us?
“It’s weird that everyone celebrates New Year’s Eve,” Shane said. “But nobody really celebrates New Year’s Day, and that’s the real holiday.”
“That’s true,” I laughed. “Maybe we should celebrate New Year’s Day. What would you like to do to celebrate?”
“I don’t know,” Shane said. “Maybe we could have all of our friends come over and have a huge party.”
I imagined the hung-over parents’ glee at dumping all of their kids at our house. Then I imagined trying to put together a party for a dozen kids in two days. We didn’t have nearly enough pizza.
“That might be nice another year,” I said. “But for now, let’s just figure out something special to do – maybe something new for the New Year.”
We came up with the idea that we could go to the movie and, since Shane wanted to see The Road Chip and I didn’t, I came up with the idea that Shane and Dylan could go to the movies on their own for the first time.
Dylan liked the idea, with one caveat. “What if I want to go to Ben & Jerry’s, too?”
“I will pick you up at Ben & Jerry’s,” I told him. The ice cream store is right next to the theater.
So the kids were in – a new thing to do, perfect for New Year’s Day.
On the way to the theater, I handed out discount cards and lots of cash. I put Dylan in charge of tickets, and Shane in charge of Ben & Jerry’s. I gave instructions for 15 straight minutes.
The kids were joking around during my instructions, and I got more and more panicked, thinking I wouldn’t have given all of my instructions before we got to the theater. My voice started rising with the panic.
Dylan said, “Mom, do you want to come with us? Because it seems like you’re the only one who’s worried.”
“No,” I said. “I just want to be sure you’re safe and happy.”
We arrived at the theater. The kids got out, laughing and excited.
I took a deep breath and drove away.
Everything went fine.