this thanksgiving we drove out to my sister’s place near chicago — my sister is the aunt our kids refer to as “auntie-chocolate” because of her undying love of chocolate goodness and how she readily & regularly shares that with our kids. anyways, it was good to be together — and have some food & fellowship. we had all decided on an “italian meal”– because i’m the only one who likes the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. — so, we had pasta & meatballs, veggie lasagne, mascarpone with flatbread, salad, bread, wine, and a little lefse thrown in for good measure – to celebrate our norwegian roots 🙂

we also enjoyed playing games, relaxing, and watching some football — and some futbol (the world cup was on, of course!)

unfortunately, our trip was cut short because my daughter came down with influenza — the first sign was a really high fever that spiked on friday afternoon…so after some back-and-forth, we decided to head home and deal with the sickness at our own place and with our own doctor…being sick is no fun, but sometimes it’s more bearable when you’re in your own bed.

so, we packed up and headed back to our place in minnesota — during “the packing up time”, the departure (and saying goodbye to their beloved aunt), and for the initial part of the ride it was clear that my son was very bummed out and disappointed that we had to leave early — even though he understood the reasons why. it was clear that he felt that way because he let us know, by telling us — he’s a very verbal little dude 🙂

then, he said something awesome…

he blurted out, i wish we didn’t have to leave, but at least we get to see the Ohio State – Michigan game now.

[if we had left the next day, like originally planned, we would’ve missed it]

my immediate reaction was sheer joy (and ranks up there with the time(s) my daughter answers the question: where do you want to go to dinner? with this standard response: buffalo wild wings, gotta get some wings! — and i know i had a perma-grin on my face for the next 70 miles of our drive. i was like, yeah, that’s my boy — love it — cue the mic drop, the walk off home run, etc. — my work here is done! 🙂 but seriously, right before he made that comment i was thinking about how i would talk to him about how plans change and how things might not always work out the way we want (like having more time with his aunt in this case)…he’s the one (out of our two kids) who has the hardest time with disappointment (and change) in life…but, he worked his way out of it on his own…and that was the really awesome thing about this moment!