As long as I'm on useless trivia, here's more. We learned in a tour of London, that long ago, when folks were condemned to death there, they were put on a wagon to be delivered to the site of their hanging or beheading. On the way, they were allowed to get off the wagon to enjoy one last alcoholic beverage. If they rejected their last drink, the guard would shout to the driver, "This one's on the wagon!" So apparently, the terms, "on the wagon" and "falling off the wagon" come from that colorful time in British history.
But back to the best-laid plans. Parenting has taught me that best-laid plans oft go astray. You buy a kid a fancy toy, and she'd much rather play with the box. You put your baby in a fancy dress to show her off, and she poops through it all, causing you to put her in a stained sleeper from the diaper bag. I've spent the last month trying to quickly get used to the idea that Scarlett would be in school full-time this year, rather than just during the mornings. It's been a little tough. But I finally came to accept it. I prepared myself, so I knew exactly what to expect. So Monday night, I went to bed, prepared to get up early, get Scarlett dressed in her new school outfit, take her first first-day-of-school picture on the porch, standing next to her sister, then I'd take my baby to school for her first day, after which I'd cry, then I'd go to work. But best laid plans...
Scarlett woke up 10 minutes later, gasping for air. She was crying and sort of croaking, and we couldn't get her to settle down. We did the hot steam thing, but in the end, I took her to the ER at 10:30 p.m. By the time we arrived, she had settled down, though her breathing was still labored. The ER folks were wonderful. They gave her several treatments, and she was finally able to breathe without so much difficulty. The Dr. said it was probably the croup. What? Other than a slight sore throat before bed, she'd been fine. The Dr. said it can come on fast. "Fast" is an understatement. So as they treated her, I watched the clock hit 11:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m., 12:00 a.m. And I started to see my best-laid plans unravel. Even if she was all better by the morning (highly unlikely), she would be much too exhausted to go to school. It started to hit me that the first-day picture wouldn't be what I expected. Sierra would again stand solo on the porch, while Scarlett's new outfit still hung on her closet door, her new backpack hung on the coat rack, and Scarlett laid on the couch. I'd have to explain that she would miss the first day of school, I feared her disappointment, and I realized my disappointment that there would be no first-day-of-4K stories that night.
But in the end, everything went okay. Scarlett spent the day healing, and Sierra had a great first day. My expectations and plans had gone astray, but as they say, "Life is what happens when you were making other plans." And today, Scarlett stood on the porch in her new outfit, her new backpack threatening to topple her little body over, and a big smile on her face. When her teacher came outside to get her class, she jumped up and down with excitement. I think her first day will be even better than she expected, because she had one more day to get excited about it. And maybe it's easier for me, since I had one more day to prepare. So now I need to figure out how to spend some extra hours in my week. But I don't think I'll make any firm plans soon, because we know what happens to those.
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