Unplanned Plans

I'm a detail girl. I like to plan. I like to have all the details worked out for my plans. I like to know what to expect. Sometimes my planning switches into an anxiety inducing compulsion.

Before a vacation, or even an outing, I do hours, who am I kidding? I do days and sometimes months, of research. My research transforms into scheduling every minute of fun. By the time the event actually takes place, I'm so stressed and exhausted, I can't enjoy myself. I'm grumpy, short tempered, and ready to cry at any given moment. Basically, I'm no fun. 

I'm slowly seeing the value in not planning. I'm working on living in the moment.  Tonight I did something I don't normally do; I made impromptu plans. I even had to change out of my elastic wasted shorts, but I managed to go with the flow and let whatever was going to happen, happen. 

45 minutes before A3's regular bedtime we were invited to join some friends at the park. My initial reaction was to stay home. The girls hadn't eaten, they weren't ready for bed, I was tired. The excuses poured out of my mind. Then I realized tonight was the last official Friday night of summer. I wasn't about to spend it sitting at home arguing with the girls. We were heading to the park. 

I'm so glad we went. I received some much needed laughter therapy with a friend who gets it. A friend who had a week that mirrored mine. A friend who has 2 amazing girls who mesh well with my 3. 

The girls ran and played with minimal tears, aside from a few "injuries" it was a dry eyed night. A1 got to see a romantic sunset. A2 was reunited with her besties. A3 proved again and again that she was no longer a little baby. 

Pizza Hut was the final stop on our impromptu adventure. We brought so much beautiful chaos. We increased the volume in that place to concert level. The 7 of us have quite a gift. For some reason the manager brought us a cup of crayons and blank paper while we waited for our pizza. The joke is on him, because this table of talented girls is able to multitask; color and cackle. So much talking and laughing. 

I was starting to stress about the fact that when we got home it was almost 2 hours after A3's bedtime, but she made it better by saying, without any promoting, "Yaya, had fun today." 

Unplanned plans are the best! 

Now, I need to plan our day for tomorrow...