Last Thursday, my husband's parents arrived into town bearing lots of gifts for my son's 6th birthday party planned for Monday and ready to help my husband with the kids for the weekend as I was flying to NYC to surprise my sister for her 30th birthday. We had a grown up dinner that night of Green Jacket Salad, Eggplant Gratin, and leftover lasagna made by my neighbor...it was absolutely delicious, and I am hoping that she'll share the recipe with me! The evening was lovely , and we all headed to bed early and ready for action the next morning.
After getting all of the kiddos off to school, I was on my way! When I arrived at the airport, there was a slight delay but nothing unexpected. I was in contact with my brother-in-law all morning trying to plan our surprise attack down to the minute. He met me downstairs under the guise that he had to run to the ATM really quickly and then asked my sister to grab something out in the hall. You know what, we ACTUALLY pulled it off!!! She was shocked that I was there, and she literally picked me up off of the ground. We had an awesome weekend...I got LOTS of baby snuggles with my 5 week old niece, I think that I may have imparted some baby knowledge to the new parents...just maybe ;), and my brother-in-law threw together a fun brunch menu for my sister including Zucker's Bagels, Eggs with Goat Cheese & Basil, Fresh Fruit, and some cocktails. I had planned on making Julia's Oven Crispy Chicken for dinner that night, but their oven was on the fritz, so we went for plan B...take out of Fried Chicken, Asparagus, and Lemon Chicken with a yummy salad from The Kitchenette. SO DELISH!!
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| View from my sis and blaw's rooftop in NYC |
The next day, the surprise was on me. I got a phone call that my flight was cancelled. Um, no, that is not acceptable. That change would be a real pain on any other Sunday afternoon, but I could've managed, especially with my in-laws staying until Monday anyway. BUT, Monday was my first born's 6th birthday, I was doing the St. Patty's Day party at his school, and his birthday party was planned at the Soccerplex that afternoon. SO, rather than having the afternoon to peruse around NYC with my sis et al on what was her actual birthday, I hopped in a cab and booked it to the airport. Thankfully, all was fine, and my plane landed six hours earlier than my original flight, which honestly ended up being a blessing because it gave me time to make birthday cupcakes, get the supplies for the party at school, and see my hubby and kiddos before they went to bed.
Well, the leprechaun must've been upset that we tried to trap him with our stellar leprechaun trap, because SURPRISE! school let out an hour and a half early AND the Soccerplex closed due to the ice storm. What??? My lovely Pinterest/friend inspired fruit rainbow was sitting there ready to take to school for my St. Patty's Day baby's afternoon party at school, I had 48 cupcakes here iced and ready to go to the Soccerplex for his party, and I REALLY didn't want to break it to my son that his party was not going to happen and that we were just going to have a nice afternoon at home with just our family.
on in the basement on the double arcade bball game with his grandparents, his daddy, his brother, and his buddies. After all was said and done, the craziness had subsided, and the gifts were opened, I asked him what he thought of his party. He replied, "It was the best day. I got out of school early. I got to play basketball at MY house with my friends, AND we got to watch a show while we played!!" WOW. Through the eyes of my child, I saw how simple it was to find joy when the "leprechaun" turns your day upside down.
I was so upset when I first found out that his party had been cancelled. I was honestly working myself into a bit of a tizzy worrying about it. I was worried about my child being upset, I was worried that he would (understandably) sulk about not going to the Soccerplex, I was worried that his birthday would be ruined. When I saw my child's face and heard his voice, though, I saw through his eyes that it was not a big deal and that he was fine. He responded exactly how I should respond when life throws me for a loop...he rolled with the punches, had a positive attitude, and decided he was going to have an amazing day.
Isn't it true that attitude is everything? We're all going to hit bumps in the road, we're all going to have set backs, run into road blocks, and life is going to turn everything on its head at some point. The lovely truth is that no matter what life throws at us, WE get to choose how we respond. We can allow things or people to ruin our day, our month, our year. We can throw temper tantrums and get angry. OR, we can choose a different approach. We can choose love over anger, we can choose kindness over pride, we can choose to take control of our lives rather than letting life take control of us. We can take a deep breath, take a step back, make a plan, and decide that everything is going to be okay. And you know what? Everything IS going to be okay.
So, I sit here now, with three sick kiddos at home, counting the minutes until someone needs a tissue, a snack, a fight broken up, a drink, a snuggle, a hug, and I am grateful that I had this gentle reminder about attitude earlier in the week...and that by some miracle I am sitting here writing at this moment :)
Happy Cooking!
