On Mondays, a Mommy pick up from school day (verses the after school arts enrichment program pick up) we have a pathetic, but fun little ritual of a shake and fries at McDonalds to acknowledge that Mondays are, well, Mondays. Today, on the way to the Golden Arches, Sam screamed; “Mom!!!!! The skate park! Look!!!! The snow is GONE!!!!”

Indeed it was. This means one thing. Well, ten things really that must now happen in sequence, starting NOW.

1. Get fatty sugary treat.

2. Stop by house and get skateboards, helmets, bikes, football, and water bottle. (Hot cocoa would have worked for me.)

3. HURRY BACK TO SKATE PARK MOMMY!

4. Navigate muddy, wet, snow bordered circumference of park with one son on bike, while other son notices how much he’s improved after being away for four months.

5. Get nice boots really muddy.

6. Thank the electrician named Rusty from across the street, for helping you get the football Marcel launched into the irrigation drain intentionally, out, after he noticed our distress. (Optional: tell Rusty your first cat was a kitten from the shelter you chose because it orange, because you wanted to name it Rusty. When this doesn’t seem to have the desired effect, explain that it was, and might still be your favorite name.)

7. Snap many photos and upload the best onto Instagram because you have to have something to look forward to for the next eight months when all you hear when you pick up the kids is; “CAN WE PLEASE GO TO THE SKATE PARK????”.

8. Feel the sun on your face. Exhale. Notice buds on trees. Inhale. Repeat.

9. Remind grateful air born child that the deal was we would leave when Mommy’s fingers were blue.

10. Remind grateful self that he still wants you to watch how he get’s air as he grabs the board and spins.