Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh...

...because if you don't, you'll cry.

Like yesterday when I managed to get both exhausted toddlers into the back door of the hotel we are staying in, and I quick ran back out in the drizzle (what is up with the incessant drizzle in Eau Claire, WI?) to grab my stuff out of the car and returned seconds later to see Jack-Hammer curled up in the fetal position in the middle of the hotel hallway with his eyes squeezed shut and the little girl huddled in a ball propped up on the window next to the door.

Apparently our trip to the mall on this particular day of traveling was too much for them. I know that driving the ill-planned streets of Eau Claire and getting lost twice (despite the use of in-car navigation) and taking the wrong exit on the way back to the hotel which put me on a 4 mile detour was too much for me. Too much in fact, that for awhile I just sat in the car in the hotel parking lot and read a book while the kids napped in their car seats after all the aforementioned chaos.

Both of the kids refused, flat out refused, bribing-won't-even-work kind of refuse, to walk up the stairs to the third floor. And the elevator is even further away than our room so I determined that that wasn't a viable option.

So I laughed and proceeded to carry one of them up the first flight of stairs, leave that one on the landing, run back down the stairs, carry the other one up, run back down the stairs, and grab our stuff. I repeated this process 4 times until we finally made it to our room which was fortunately right by the stairwell.

I unlocked the door to our room, brought the little girl in, and laid her on the couch. Then I grabbed all my stuff, threw it in the room, and turned to see Jack-Hammer now curled up on the luggage rack in the hallway that I had used earlier that morning to move all our stuff (I'm not a light packer) to this room from another room (that's an even longer story......but let me just say we are very grateful for this wonderful room and the "friends and family rate").

As I reached down to hoist up my not-so-little nearly 4 year old, I heard the click of the door closing behind me.

You know those moments, those moments that are rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but in the moment it feels like the world stopped spinning and, with some crazy movie effects, everything swirls around you as if the entire universe is watching to see what you will do?  Well, this was one of those moments for me. And all I could do was tip my head back and laugh........right before I started pounding on the door and yelling in my nicest mommy voice, "Ava! Please come open the door! Mommy and Jack are locked out!"  Listen intently. No sound on the other side of the door. More pounding.  "Ava! We need your help! Please come be a big girl and open the door!"  ..........waiting..........  Nothing.

I hear a door open, but it's the people right next to us leaving their room, an elderly couple who don't even glance in my direction and proceed to walk away with their noses in the air.  Knowing there was nothing they could have done to help us anyway, I say to myself, "They are gonna love us in a couple hours when it's bathtime and bedtime. We are not quiet people."

By this time, Jack is fully awake and seizing the opportunity to bang on the door. Finally I realize that there's no use. Through the door I tell Ava that I am leaving to go downstairs and get another key. I listen intently for some sort of response from the other side of the door.......and once again.......nothing.

So Jack and I head down to the desk to get a new key. On the way, I pray that it is a different lady than earlier in the morning when I had called from our new room to have them check to see if I left a pair of little girl boots in our old room when in reality the boots were in the side pocket of their suit case the whole time. The staff, of course, didn't find the boots, but they did find a library book of ours. And yes, I realize the ridiculousness of bringing a library book on a family business trip five hours from home, but it fit with my homeschooling "plan" for the week.

So, long story short.......or something....... we got a new key, unlocked the door, and Ava was still sitting where I had left her. She looked at me with complete knowingness - she knew I had been calling for her, she knew she didn't do anything to help, and she knew she got a few glorious minutes to herself while Jack and I were locked out.

The day ended something like this:

The husband gets back. I relate my day to him. We all head down to the restaurant for supper. Jack, as usual, has to go potty in the middle of the meal. On our way back from the bathroom, he trips over some non-existent something and does a belly flop on the floor in front of the salad bar. Ava, for some reason we never did figure out, slid off her chair head first and did a face plant onto the floor under our table and came up with ranch dressing all over her face. And Jack spilled applesauce all over himself.

I just laughed.

And the husband and I had one of those moments when a couple finishes each other's sentences.

One of us said, "Whoever said that these years go by quickly...."

And the other finished, "....should be shot." 

(I realize that sounds harsh, and of course we don't actually mean it, but the point is, it's not going by quickly. I know that someday it will seem like a really short time of our lives, but living through it is not a short experience).

The End.