Over the Thanksgiving break we went to my in-laws home to celebrate the holiday with family. It is always an enjoyable occasion as they truly sacrifice their time and their home to our family so that we can have some R&R.
In spite of their hospitality and my excitement about going, I always tend to leave for the trip holding my breath. Leaving our normal family routine of chores, little to no t.v. viewing, and regular bedtimes can cause all of us to become a little selfish. I'd like to think that it's just the kids fighting over the remote or absentmindedly leaving dishes lying around. But Ross and I can overindulge in laziness just as easily as the kids. I feel like we become lost...looking for what we can get rather than looking for what we can give.
Our family rotates holidays between two sets of grandparents which means we will not be with my in-laws for Christmas. Therefore, we have a tradition of exchanging Christmas gifts during our Thanksgiving time with them. This year, we each received $100 from them to spend as we wanted--a huge blessing.
We went shopping on Friday. I took Morgan to look at some clothes in one of the department stores and Ross took the boys to go and look at some items in another department store. We met back about an hour and a half later. Looking at Ross I could tell that he was upset. Morgan and I were late in arriving, but his face conveyed that this was not the entire reason he was angry. My eyes scanned the rest of the party for clues as to what had happened. Hunter had a shopping bag and seemed fine. Then I looked down to Blaise whose face was downcast. Instantly I knew what had happened, but asked the question anyway.
"Why does everyone seem so down?"
"Because someone lost his money," my husband retorted.
Right on cue Blaise came over to me and buried his head in my stomach. 'Oh, no,' I thought. 'How do we handle this?'
We let Morgan and Hunter go off by themselves to look around the mall while we stayed with Blaise. Ross recounted to me what had happened, the places they had already searched, and the frustration he was understandably feeling. Blaise is a kid who does whatever he does with gusto. Somehow in the midst of him doing something his money got lost. An accident, yes, but unfortunately one that came at a big price! After talking about it, we decided that we would handle the situation this way: anyone in the family who wanted to could give Blaise $20 of their money. But only if they wanted to do so. Ross joked with me and asked, "What if he only gets $20?" "From who? You?" I joked back.
After finishing up at the mall, we walked out to the van, got in, and Ross shared with the kids what we had decided. Immediately, both Morgan and Hunter, piped up and said "Okay" and passed their money forward. Immediately. Not begrudgingly, not with an attitude, not with a comment or question. Almost instinctively. I cannot express how proud I was in that moment to be the mom of my kids.
Right then and there my heart rested in knowing that what I thought was lost had been found.
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