Singin’ In The Rain??

Whoo-eee! Probably spurred by the need to avoid a second Inside Day in a row, the tots and I forged out under dubious skies. Usually I can see the forecast written in the sky outside my front window, but this morning, I just couldn’t tell. To my right (SE) the sky was grey, but light; to my left (SW) dark and forbidding. What to do? It should have been easy: we all know that the weather comes from the west… A quick call to Sophie (my caregiver friend) allowed us to encourage each other in a decision borne of imprisonment and lunacy. Yes! We would go out, and yes! we would meet for a coffee, and yes! we’d take the tots to the park…

Two outta three ain’t so bad.

Yes! We went out. Yes! We arrived our meeting place, an indoor courtyard behind the coffee shop. And NOOOOOoooo….look at that rain!! Thankfully, our coffeeshop backs onto the courtyard, because the patio out front was definitely not the place to be. Out came the trucks intended for the sandbox, and the children managed to have a happy playtime while Sophie and I sipped our coffees. Today was Sophie’s turn to buy, and, creative woman that she is, she emerged from the shop not with the usual dark blue mugs, but with a tray containing two lovely bowls of steaming café au lait…perfect for warming hands chilled by gripping damp stroller handles.

It was quite a nice way to spend a morning, really. As they played and we sipped, we kept an eye on the sky, waiting for the weather to clear. The sky would lighten, the rain abate somewhat, and then suddenly darken as another cloudburst plummeted earthward. Back and forth. Back and forth. We waited with increasing agitation: maybe we should just stay all afternoon and have the parents pick them up there?? Finally, when it seemed that it had settled into a steady light rain, we decided to brave it.

Had I had only four children today, so that none would have needed to walk, I might just have missed that last cloudburst… As it was, we were about a km from home when it hit. Saturated only begins to describe us. But you know, it wasn’t cold, so once I’d made the mental adjustment that we were all going to be drenched, raincoats or no, it became rather fun. Darcy, in the front seat of the stroller, just laughed. When Thomas complained that his pants were getting wet, I took a peek at his legs and made a great fuss of scolding him for being so silly as to have a bath with his clothes on. Now that’s funny! By the time we got home, everyone was in the mood: giddy, laughing, shrieking, and wet, wet, wet…

Serendipitously, my eldest daughter had arrived just moments before we got to the house. She’s nineteen and, not surprisingly, very experienced with tiny tots, so it was just a matter of a very few highly efficient minutes before the two of us had the five of them stripped to their diapers (or underwear, or doodle shorts) and seated in front of a plate of scrambled eggs on toast. (Warming and FAST.)

The clothes are now tumbling in the dryer, the children all fed and now napping, a hot cup of tea at my elbow.

All in all, a pretty good day!