I got rolled

This was my office yesterday afternoon.

It’s not all that significant without the back story, but when I saw it I laughed my behind off!

Then my heart smiled.

Saturday night is date night for the Gorntos.  Almost every Saturday we have a sitter so Scott and I can go to dinner.  This past Saturday we had dinner with friends.  When we finished, we decided it was too early to go home and discussed the options of what to do next.  The idea that quickly gained momentum was to pick up toilet paper and go roll our friend’s house.  Yes, we are near 40 and THAT was an option.

So we did it.

My friend Melanie and I ran into the store to pick up toilet paper.  We left combusting in laughter with mascara tears running down our faces and moon and stars stockings on our heads.  Back in the car, our husbands were incredibly good sports, donning stocking caps of their own and off we went.  We looked insane.

We drove to her neighborhood and turned down her street, making note of how bright the lights were at 10:00 at night.  We drove past her house and cased the joint.  It was all clear.  We found a spot to park the getaway car and piled out like crazy fools running toward her house, with muffled laughter at every step.

I haven’t rolled a house since high school. It was apparent on my first throw, I’d lost some of the technique.  It came back easy though. Even with false eyelashes poking like tiny needles in my eye, it was so much fun I didn’t want to quit.

We had agreed to not make a big mess, so we left pretty quickly.  We ran back to the car laughing so hard I almost peed my pants.

Yesterday morning, I thought it would be fun to show the boys the pictures and tell them all about it.

I was in no way prepared for all the questions that came next.  

What?!?!  What is that?  You did that?  Why?

When can we go?  Today?

And a list of friends that were the perfect targets was quickly formed.

Ummmmm.  (dying laughing inside, trying to hold composure on the outside) Probably not today.  We might want to wait until you’re a little older, but you’ll enjoy it then.  It’s fun to laugh with friends and play pranks.  

Almost as soon as we arrived home, I heard giggles in the hallway and saw toilet paper whirring past.  They didn’t waste a second in trying out this new fun for themselves.  They covered several rooms of the house, adding in balloons and other touches along the way. They laughed and laughed as their masterpiece was unveiled.

I spent a lot of time sharing this story with you, because it cemented something for me this weekend.  We already know it, but sometimes it helps to see it first hand.

Children become what we model.

They might become what we teach them is right.  They might become what we say we value and appreciate as a family.  But there is absolutely no doubt, they will become what we show them with our lives.

Life is a great adventure.

It’s not just a series of deadlines to meet, grade levels to graduate, tests to take, medals to win, colleges to attend . . .  The things we encourage kids to do are all good, but without a sense of adventure, they might miss the point.

We might miss the point. 

When you take opportunities to venture off the path, even just for 5 minutes, it will change your perspective from a race, to a journey.

An adventure.  

I know you’re tired.  You’re stressed and you’re busy.  Life is moving so fast.

Today, you can find one little moment of adventure.  

Take a different route home.

Roll the windows down.

Turn the radio up.

Give someone a great big bear hug and swing around.

Dance over to the pantry.

Stop at the park to explore.

Read a chapter of a novel.

Play battleship and act out the noises.

Dress up like a princess.

Eat ice cream.

Get dirty in the mud.

Take a little time to live.

Don’t skip it.  

Or the adventure of life might skip you.  Then all that’s left is tired, stressed and busy.

I need to get out and roll houses with friends more often.  Do you?