Climbing on the Van

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Children will make games out of nothing and find fun in everything, if given the freedom to explore. I do believe there is such a thing as TOO much freedom to explore though. I am pretty sure my children reached this point. Many. Many. Many. Times.

Some time ago I was pulling a shift in the world of being a “single mom”. It doesn’t happen often and it’s purely due to my husband’s occupation, but it can make me lapse into moments of need. These moments lead me to need quiet. To need time alone. To need to separate myself from my kids. Well, these needs don’t get met when I am 24/7 parenting. (Kudos to single parents everywhere! You guys are amazing! I cannot fathom the amount of patience, endurance and understanding you all need.)

At any rate, when it becomes quiet in my home at these times of need I am not one to complain, much. Hehe… I ran into one such moment a summer or so ago. The kids suddenly disappeared from my presence. I heard faint sounds of giggling! I didn’t question it, at first. I relished it! And then…20 minutes into this peace and more giggling my mom brain kicked in. WHAT are the kids up to? WHERE are the kids? WHY is it so quiet? And why are they GIGGLING?! So I went a hunting for them. I found them fairly quickly by following the squeals of delight. The laughter was wonderful! I rounded the corner of the dining room into the garage and there they all were. Playing in the van! The doors open on both sides and even the dog (we only had one at this time) was in there. HAHA! Score one for a happy house full of kids and no one in trouble. Right? Wrong! I gathered them all up and moved them to a safer location for play without giving it a second thought.

So what was wrong? I didn’t discover what was wrong until later that week. I was driving down the road on a cloudy day and noticed foot prints on the window. To be specific, I noticed foot prints on the front window. Ah, the kids must have put there feet up on the dash at some time. Right? Wrong! These foot prints were facing the wrong direction and where on the outside. I casually commented on the foot prints on the window and hands immediately covered snickering mouths. And another mom light bulb moment occurred. My happy clan of children had been using the garage door to climb up the back of the van where they proceeded to walk/crawl over the top of the van and concluded the fun by sliding down the front window. Yes, my kids used my van as a slide.

Someone please pass the wine? I am still in need of some even though this all happened awhile ago and all my children are banned from the garage now. Can you imagine what could have happened? Oh yah… I could and maybe someone should have told ME what could have happened when I used a farm elevator as a teeter-totter with my brother. (snickering behind my hand) Yes, my mom knows we did this… now. :)
 
PS-No children were put in danger for the sake of the photo. Hehe… Although they did get a kick out of the idea I wanted this photo. Definitely a scrapbook moment here.

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