Decisions, Decisions

Quick personal update: In case any of my three readers are wondering when I'll get around to writing something of substance, don't hold your breath! School is out for the summer, and we're grinding into the last few months (God willing!) of our remodel project. Hopefully my brain will be back in the fall sometime... meanwhile, you can enjoy cute kid stories as the inspiration strikes.

There must be an unwritten fourth law of thermodynamics (how many did Newton write?) that states that kids' party invitations come in bunches. So far this year the invitations have come at the same time, but the parties managed to be a few days apart. Until this week. Doe had a long-standing invite to a swim party at her Daisy group leader's house, and then a friend from church invited both girls to a birthday party -- on the same day.

I had thought it would work out fine to drop Ray at the birthday party and take Doe to the swim party, but I hadn't discussed it with them. So we were out the other day running errands, including picking up a present, when I mentioned to Doe that she had to chose one or the other.

"But I want to do both."

"They're at the same time, honey. You can't be in two places at once."

Doe's a smart kid; she tried to negotiate for splitting the time between the two events. I argued this would be rude to the kid whose birthday she left in the middle. Besides, I didn't want to spend the afternoon shuttling kids around town.

"But Ray will get more candy than me. It's not fair."

Yeah, life's not fair. The angst and whining continued as Ray chose a present and we drove home. Finally, it occurred to me that I've had 40 more years of deciding between various ways of spending a Saturday afternoon than she has, and maybe she needs a bit of help. So I grabbed a pad of paper and we started making two lists: good things about the pool party on one side; good things about the birthday party on the other. We came up with three items on each side, and it seemed like we weren't any closer to a decision. Then I asked her to decide between the things on each side: showing off your new tricks on the pool vs. getting candy, etc. At last, it became clear that swimming really would be more fun. From that moment on, Doe was completely excited about the pool party and never did express another regret about the path not taken.

Oh, to be almost six and faced with such simple choices between good fun and better fun!

Me, I have about sixteen swatches of paint color on the walls, along with various carpet, vinyl and tile samples floating around. Those are the kinds of decisions that rear up and demand to be settled -- especially when the painter is due to arrive in a couple of days. They are urgent, yet trivial, when all is said and done. Then there are the important decisions -- how to find some alone time for mental health (and possible spiritual refreshment) as the kids and adjust to our summer schedule. How to keep perspective in the midst of chaos while trusting that life will swing back to some semblance of normal once the remodel is finished (are remodels ever finished or will I have contractors swarming around the house for next twenty years?).

Maybe I should make a list or two: good things about losing your mind early on in the process; good things about trying to endure with grace and patience! Or can I just have a meltdown in the parking lot?