Irony

I came home Thursday night to Paige crying. Which honestly, is nothing new. But when I took a few steps in the door and heard Andy ranting and raving, I thought it a little out of the ordinary. Only to take a few more steps into the living room and see the half gallon of taupe paint spilled on the carpet. By Paige. Who had attempted to carry it across the living room. I stood and assessed the situation. Realizing that the carpet in the middle of the living room was probably ruinded, and also realizing that Andy just might need some "alone time" to mourn the fact, I swept the girls into the van and ordered a pizza. I made sure I took a really long time getting back, too. Good thing the pizza place was busy. So after about a hour and 16 gallons of boiling water and a shop vac, Andy conquered the paint on the carpet. The really good news is that is was just a couple shades darker than the carpet, so if there is still some left on it, it just blends in with the brown flecks.

We made it through the evening with apologies exchanged for words said. The next morning I am on my way out the door to work and realize we didn't check the kids school bags. So I grab the papers out of Paige's bag and skim through them, only to halt dead in my tracks at the last note. Seems Paige has been chosen for the Sensational Citizen Award, and oh, by the way, it will be presented to her at morning roundup, Dec 11th. I ran to the kitchen calendar. Sure enough, it was Dec 11th. That meant I had to call my boss to tell him I was going to be an hour late, and that Karly couldn't ride to take the kids to school in her pjs and bedhead. It was quiet the scramble. But we made it.

I found it ironic that she got the award, which is partly given for making good choices, the morning after her little paint mishap. And really, it just put it all in perspective for us. Don't sweat the small stuff. Paint on the carpet, ok, maybe not that small. But still, in 5 years it makes for a great story.