One Rainy Day

At the end of November there was this warm, rainy day that ended up being absolutely perfect. In the morning, PDG decided to wear his light-up Batman shoes but MDG noticed the drizzle and went for the rainboots. I was ambivalent, slapped them all on, and we headed out the door.

In the afternoon MDG had the advantage, able to jump in the few puddles that had accumulated at Ms. S's house. PDG wanted to join, but given his shoes, I had to be that mama that says no in favor of non-smelly feet all the way home. As a compromise I agreed to as much puddle-hopping as desired when we got back to our house.

Wouldn't you know that when we pulled onto Mormon Street our across the street neighbors already had their galoshes on in order to do their own jumping? And, onto the porch rushed our two-doors-down neighbors to follow suit. PDG switched into his gear and in no time at all, the seven of them were surveying the sidewalk looking for anything that would make a splash.

It rained for a while, so I naturally was antisocial on the porch while I observed. The other moms were closer lest one of the kiddos made a dash into the road. But then  the rain ended, the clouds began to part, and the children all started pointing towards the sky and its beautiful,  huge rainbow. I had to go look. It felt like a gift sent just for us and it was blowing the minds of these 1-6 year olds.

As the sun broke through, we warmed up but didn't really dry much. That's because the splashing only intensified. I think there was a nonverbal agreement among them to get as soaked as possible. Double points for mud.

When we finally came inside for dinner it was a strip-down-and-put-your-clothes-straight-in-the-washer event. The boys ate in their undies/diaper, I started another round of never-ending laundry, and I tried to take in the simple joys of a rainy afternoon through the eyes of a kid.