kaleidoscoping chaos...: I Feel Lucky!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

I Feel Lucky!

That is the title to a Mary Chapin Carpenter song that I LOVE (lyrics and video here); we also were in Vegas this past weekend (we did get to take a picture at the famous "Vegas" sign - something I had never done before, yet we didn't have time to gamble...); and we could use some luck right now - who couldn't!?! I must admit I do believe in luck, fate, destiny, all that stuff - I think there is some kind of energy out there (whatever you might choose to call it) that helps to make this world go around. I just do.

Plus, I had one more gift from Vegas left to give to my extremely "lucky" kids... the slot machine!

I was sure they were going to LOVE the slot machine. I was prepared for some sibling fighting, many conversations about sharing, and a whole afternoon of slot machining away... sometimes mommy (and her wacky kaleidoscope) just gets it wrong.

They liked it for about 5 minutes. I have to admit that I did not give them any money to put into it (it is the little bank kind that you can insert money and when you win it comes out). I was too worried that Vera was going to be eating dimes and pennies and Jonah would be hoarding the money and only want the coins and forget about the machine-so I figured they would like it just the same. Yeah right.

I explained how it worked and how you need to get three of same across and at first they seemed genuinely interested. It wore off very quickly. Then Jonah decided it was time to go outside and play with the bugs. Vera also was banging on the door, so we went.

There was a lot of "investigating" the bugs and a little bit of bike riding. They returned to the slot machine once or twice. Then Jonah found my "special bag" filled with stuff for tomorrow to celebrate this little known Jewish holiday called Lag B'Omer. The holiday actually starts tonight but I figured I still wanted to give the kids the slot machine and we'd do a Lag B'Omer Shabbot tomorrow. As LUCK would have it, Jonah had other plans.

I have developed my own Lag B'Omer traditions over the years. They include having a BBQ/picnic, flying kites, playing with pinwheels, using bows & arrows, crafting bonfires, and investigating bugs. More on all of this tomorrow. Jonah and Vera did get to hang our garden flag tonight, play with some fake bugs and real bugs, and plant a pinwheel garden. In the end, we started celebrating the holiday at exactly the right time - how lucky are we!