enjoying the walk

The boys and I walked over to the elementary school this morning. It is Spring Break, so we had the place to ourselves and we had a great time in the windy sunshine. On the way home, I told Dexter that he and I were going to church later and he could watch a Thomas video while I finished some work I needed to do. He was excited until we walked past the street where we would have turned to go to church. "Mommy! You're going the wrong way! Church is that way!" I explained that we were going home first, where we would play for awhile and eat lunch, and then later go to church as promised. This was far from satisfactory. All the way home he whined and cried, trying many different tactics to convince me we were off-track.

"I don't want to eat and play! I want to go to church now!"

"No Mommy! Turn around!"

"You said we were going to church!"

"I don't want to go home! I am NOT going home."

It was a beautiful day - Nate and I noticed flowers blooming and new leaves unfurling as we walked along. Dexter missed it all, because he was too busy being frustrated with me. And what do you know? Despite his impatience, complaining, and accusations that I had gone back on my word, it all worked out wonderfully. We went home, we played, we ate lunch, and then... hooray! We went to church and watched Thomas!

Hmmm. I'm sure there's a lesson for me in there somewhere if I think about it hard enough... :)