Against My Better Judgment

Against My Better Judgment

“Can the boys have Easter with me this year?” I’m thinking what’s the catch. “My sister is having a big to do with an outside egg hunt, I’ve never taken the boys.” My immediate response is NO but I soften a bit and figure he is their father, the boys do have another side to their family. “I guess it will be ok, it is after all your weekend with the kids.” As quickly as the words come out of my mouth I want to suck them back in. This is the man who presented Christmas presents to the boys in garbage bags, with no wrapping.

I’ve already purchased three eighteen count packages of eggs and boiled them along with three egg dying kits. The idiot in me offers these items to the father. I will not part with any of the chocolate from New Jersey or any of the other basket items purchased in advance. The Easter bunny will leave them at my house for when the boys return. I freshened up the boys chinos and polo shirts made sure their boat shoes fit. Ok, they are all set for Easter with their Father.

After discussing this being the first Easter I will be without the Boys, we decided that we would spend the Holiday in New Jersey. The Father asked if he could pick the kids up from school the Thursday before Easter and spend the long weekend with them. This is not in his nature, but I agreed, that meant that we could get on the road early for the drive to New Jersey.

I requested the father come to my house Wednesday evening to pick up the clothing, Easter supplies, written out instructions with phone numbers and to ensure he knew where to go to pick up the boys at school since he had never graced the hallways EVER. I stressed more than a dozen times where and what time to pick up the kids. She sat at the kitchen table listening to me go over instructions and ensure that they were comprehended as if I was talking to a child.

Thursday morning came and the boys were very excited to go to school with the cupcakes that they baked with her. We took them to school, hugged and kissed each one a million times and I told them all they had to do was call anytime over the next four days and I would be back in a flash. I reminded each boys a zillion times where to stand to wait for their dad at the end of the school day.

She and I were off for our Holiday weekend. We arrived at the castle late in the morning, it was a beautiful day so we decided to explore. After walking thru a very quaint town and stopping in a few country stores we were off for a late lunch a couple towns away.

I was taking in all the sites with my bare feet on the dashboard listening to the country music when my cell phone rang. I glanced at the dashboard clock and smiled, it was probably the boys checking in after school. Once I grabbed the phone and saw the number the hair on my neck stood up, it was the elementary school. As I was on the phone with the principal call waiting beeped and it was the junior high school! 3:45PM and none of the boys had been picked up yet. School did have my notes and they were expecting the father to pick the boys up, they tried to contact the father but he was not answering the phone. I explained that I was already out of state, I would find the father and get back to them immediately. She pulled over because she was in disbelief that after all of my instruction and inquiry of his comprehension he was not at school on time. It took a few tries but I was able to track him down, I wanted to rip his head off when I was told to relax, he’s on his way now. It seems that he just lost track of time, it was not a big deal that he was picking his children up at 4:00 rather than 3:00 and I really do need to clam down a bit. I contacted the principals at both schools I could not apologize enough and let them know that HE was in transit and should be there momentarily.

She grabbed my hand and we continued on our journey towards what was now turning into an early dinner. It took a bit of prompting; eventually I was calmed and enjoyed the rest of the day. I was able to find some humor in the earlier incident. She was able to witness first hand the trials and tribulations in relation to “The Father”.

Motherhood is always an adventure, motherhood with HIM involved is an adventure on a stormy sea. I asked her again ….. “Are you sure you want to do this?”