Me, My Kids, and Irene

Watching the rain from the doorway

"Everday Adventures."  I originally chose the subtitle to this blog for its obvious implication that every day is an adventure with the family of Js….which is true. I bring my camera with me everywhere I go for that very reason. I take it with me on vacations like everyone else but I also have it with me on walks around the block and trips to the grocery store. When you have kids, you never know when excitement may be just around the corner. But there’s something funny about that phrase, “everyday adventure.” I’ve come to learn that it works both ways. You see, every day is an adventure with kids but kids can also make adventures surprisingly everyday. [Since my grammar and spell check keeps attempting to edit me, I think I’d better clarify that I’m using the word ‘everyday’ as an adjective here.]

This weekend our family was caught in the path of Hurricane Irene. Most of the East Coast was consumed with anxiousness and anticipation, awaiting the arrival of this unstoppable force of nature. Some of the news anchors called it the storm of the century. Neither James nor I have ever been through a hurricane so we had no idea what to expect, but we heeded the warnings and took all the necessary precautions. We cleared everything out of our lawn to keep it from being swept away by the fierce winds and flood waters. We filled our pantry with canned goods and our drawers with flashlight batteries. We took all our ice chests and filled them water, just in case we’d have to spend days without power and/ or running water.

By Friday night, when the rain clouds were first starting to roll in, we were stocked up, hunkered down, and ready for what we thought was sure to be quite an adventure.

James had to report to his ship on Saturday so we were all up by 5 o’clock in the morning and loading into the car. Once we’d dropped him off at the base, the kids and I drove straight home in a hurry to beat the storm. It was just me, my kids, and Irene from that point on. I had high expectations for the day, sure that it would be full of excitement. And here’s what we did:

Went outside and splashed in the huge puddles that were forming in the back yard.

Came inside, stripped off muddy clothes, and made a batch of fresh homemade playdough.

Watched the storm from the window.

Played a couple rounds of tic-tac-toe.

Watched the storm from the front porch.

 Turned off all the lights and played super heroes, searched for bad guys using flashlights and rescued Johnny, who we trapped in the clothes hamper.

Throughout the day I also washed some dishes, changed some diapers, folded some laundry, served some meals, cleaned-up some spills, vacuumed some carpets, administrated some naps, issued some time-outs, and nursed some boo-boos. The usual. For the most part, we did everything we do every other day except we did it with pounding rain against the windows as a soundtrack and with an emergency flashlight on my belt loop as an accessory.

Our flooded street on Saturday afternoon

Then, when we woke up this morning it was almost like nothing had happened. The flood waters had almost completely receded. As soon as the sun started shining this morning the kids and I went outside and started picking up stray branches, the only evidence that Hurricane Irene had stopped by for a visit.

Now do you see what I was saying about the dual meaning of everyday adventures? Children have the amazing ability to make the most ordinary days extraordinary and to make extraordinary events completely ordinary. I see this as a God-given gift. My kids endow my life with a beautiful balance; a stability and steadiness that are deserving of praise. Thank you Lord for everyday adventures- both kinds.