A Good Friday Evening of Ice Skating

All I saw was tears streaming down her face. Then, I saw her soiled pants. Her playful pink jeans were now dark and dirty. Then I looked up. I saw inverted eye brows,  major frustration and anger was pouring from my wife's face. And all this happened while I was blissfully putting on Silas' cute ice skates. How dare they enter into my special moment with Silas to interrupt? This is what I thought. What in the world could have happened to create such a mess? Well, it started out as a nice evening of Ice Skating.  It was nothing earth shattering. No. It was simple. It took some manouvering. Anna had to meet us for dinner, we had to park her Civic at 18 Seaboard, near the ice arena, and carpool downtown to the rink. But that wasn't much of an obstacle. The man that staggered from Cameron Village to Wachovia , in front of our car, was only a minor  obstacle.

Tonight we joined six other families for open air ice skating in downtown Raleigh. The "hopeless romantic" in me bulged with glee as my wife and I, and the two kids, headed to park our car. But simple things often are the catch. Anna and I argued a bit about the parking space. But I let that go. I tried to drop the kids off with my wife, but that didn't happen. I did not communicate well. I said "Would you like me to drop you off here?" Another option might have been, "Anna, I would like to drop you off on the curb so that we do not have to walk the kids all over the streets." But I was my normal indirect self.

The weather was also a challenge. It was only 32 degrees and our 3 year old wanted to be carried everywhere because he was "cold."  But, after all, Silas was most excited of us all. His face was riveted and poised as we headed in the direction of the rink. You might think that this would be an occasion for a family photo. Nope. Tonight we certainly didn't get a photo. I thought all my effort would pay off. I had picked Silas up at school, done an hour of work from home, gathered Josie from the bus stop, dressed the kids, and somehow by God's grace sent the neighbors child home, Hartley. Then, the kids and I sprinted to meet Anna at Cameron Village for dinner. We headed left on Six Forks Road. Behind the wheel, I waited in line, internally I was surging with expectations of fun, perfection, and joy.  It is becoming all the more rare that Anna and I, and the kids, hang out and do something recreational together. So this was the moment, the climax, the perfect "rose colored" glasses that I always dream of. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, parties, school, travel, and all sorts of other opportunities, it seems like the Summer was the last time we went out on the town as a family. But eventually my dreams would be shattered.

I guess its realistic that a 6 year old would be scarred of a porta potty. After all, I am. So in the end, nothing tragic really happened. It was jut different than my expectations. Josie had a terrible evening. Silas had a bad evening, and Anna had a pretty sucky evening as well. And then there was me. I was trapped inside my head, like usual, ready to scream, but hoping to put a good spin on it. I was glad we did what we did. I wish it hadn't happened that way, but then, that would not be realistic. Thankfully I did not let my emotions get the best of me. I have slept through the night, gotten my daily dose of coffee, and have moved on. Silas and I went out for bagels this morning. Anna and I laughed in bed as we talked about our marriage, and we waited for Silas to walk into our room at 6:45 to say, "Is it wake up time?"