Lesson #28: Expect the Unexpected

Lesson #28 may seem a bit obvious. Anyone who's planned at outdoor event in summer (rain) or felt beautiful all dressed up as they kissed the kids goodbye (vomit) can tell you, it seems like the unexpected can rain on your parade at any moment.

But it goes both ways.

Sometimes we expect the worst and are completely blindsided by a series of events that prove we have no idea where life will take us next.

Take Sunday, for example. We surprised the kids (and ourselves, I think) with a spontaneous trip to Six Flags. We hit all the kiddie rides one-after-another, enjoying a surprisingly quiet day at the park. On a whim, I asked Jacob if he wanted to hit one of the big roller coasters.

"Okay."

So off we went to get in line for Goliath, which boasts a 255 foot drop and speeds up to 85 miles per hour. Frankly, I was expecting that at some point, he would change his mind and we'd do that awkward "excuse me, excuse me..." shove back through the line to get out and back to Jeff, Brady and Lucy.

But it wasn't happening.

So as we were about three groups back, I started to prepare him a little bit. As we climbed into the coaster, I gave him a little bit more. I didn't want to scare him but also tried to lightheartedly let him know what he was in for. As the coaster started to slowly climb, I went to tell him one last thing and was stopped abruptly.

"Mom, stop freaking me out."

That's when I realized that it was me who was terrified and I was projecting it onto my very excited six year old, as evidenced by my closed eyes and clutch of death on his poor arm...



Seriously, that ride scared the bejeezus out of me, mostly because I've never tried to protect someone while making a deal with God if only he'd spare my life. Check out this interview with Jacob, before we even got off the torture mobile! (on next page)