The Joys of Life Rediscovered in a Walmart Parking Lot

Walking toward the check-out counter at Walmart with my two youngest boys, I realized that a storm had rolled in while I had been shopping. 'Dang! I never have an umbrella when I need one!' I thought.

"Oh I am going to get soaked!" I whined to the check out lady.

"Yes you are!" she readily agreed.

As we were walking to the door, Justice turns to me with a huge grin and says gleefully, "We are going to get wet! I love getting wet! I'm gonna find a big puddle to jump in!"

"Wain! Wain!" chimes in Clayton happily.

I smiled and wondered when I had lost all of my sense of fun. Running through the downpour, toward my van, Justice and Clayton are laughing and having so much fun that I decided I didn't really mind the rain after all. As I buckled Clayton into his seat and loaded the stuff into the van, Justice was happily splashing. It just so happened that I had parked next to one of the parking lot's drains, so there was a river flowing in from all directions right close at hand. I stood there half in the van and half out for a minute, thinking about my one hour of quiet time when the two little boys take naps before the older kids come home from school. Then with a smile I unbuckled Clayton, took off his shoes, rolled up the bottom of my jeans and we joined Justice for the happiest seven minutes of my day.

Miraculously both boys fell asleep on the way home and I sit here in total quiet bliss, that is until Ross and Mark come home from school in ten minutes.