Spontaneous: coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency; without effort or premeditation; natural and unconstrained; unplanned
On the morning of this past 4th of July, we got into a discussion with some friends of ours. Some of them were leaving right after the breakfast to go camping. Someone said that we should come up as well. When I said that we would need more time than that to prepare, he said something to the effect of, "what kind of preparation do you need for camping? Just throw some stuff in the car and drive off." It got me thinking.
I have never been much of a planner. I have trouble making commitments and love to do things on the spur of the moment. I usually like change. When John and I were first married, I was working for the airline so we could fly standby for free. We loved flying to new places and having the ability to visit friends and family so easily. One 4th of July we decided to fly to Utah. When we got to the airport, we saw that the flight we were hoping to take had filled and there were no other flights to SLC with seats available. So, what did we do? We sure didn't go home. Our bags were already packed. We stood there looking at the departure board and chose a place to go. We spent that night in Florida!
Once we had children, I quit working so that I could stay home with them. Our love to "go" at a moment's notice didn't change much. We went on a couple of family trips like the one to Disneyland with our friends the Crandalls. They were going with their family (family reunion) and one of the families was not able to go at the last minute. So they called us, we packed up our 3 little boys and left. Best trip to Disneyland ever! (Well, other than the fact that our stroller was stolen while we were stuck at the top of a ride..but hey, that just added to the adventure!) Many of our friends also knew that they could call us almost anytime and we would jump at the chance to join them for a date night, family activity, or even camping.
But things have changed. I knew that, but I think that this discussion with our friend really brought the reality of it to the surface for me and quite frankly, made me a little sad. I think that for everyone as you have more children, the ability to be spontaneous becomes less and less. But when you add in a child (or two) with special needs, it is an even bigger challenge. A child who is medically fragile takes it to an even higher level of difficulty.
As I think about it, I think the last spontaneous trip we may have taken was our trip to Italy where we ended up in Holland. Ha Ha! That one sure wasn't planned or prepared for.
What a lot of people who do not have medically fragile children do not understand is how much work goes into taking care of these children behind closed doors. How much it takes to get ready to leave the house for even a few hours. How much equipment and medication has to be brought along for their basic needs as well as the "just in case" items that your child may need, possibly to keep them alive while you are away. We have to think about having a power source to run their machines. We have to prepare their food ahead of time, because stopping for a hamburger along the way just isn't an option. The list goes on and on.
So, when I got a call last Wed. night from Melissa at the Ryan House stating that they had room available this week and would love to have Bryce and Annalise come stay for a few days, I was excited with the thought of a spontaneous trip once again. We had to decide quickly if we could make the arrangements, pull our kiddos from school, and make that Summer Staycation that never did quite happen this Summer, happen now.
On the morning of this past 4th of July, we got into a discussion with some friends of ours. Some of them were leaving right after the breakfast to go camping. Someone said that we should come up as well. When I said that we would need more time than that to prepare, he said something to the effect of, "what kind of preparation do you need for camping? Just throw some stuff in the car and drive off." It got me thinking.
I have never been much of a planner. I have trouble making commitments and love to do things on the spur of the moment. I usually like change. When John and I were first married, I was working for the airline so we could fly standby for free. We loved flying to new places and having the ability to visit friends and family so easily. One 4th of July we decided to fly to Utah. When we got to the airport, we saw that the flight we were hoping to take had filled and there were no other flights to SLC with seats available. So, what did we do? We sure didn't go home. Our bags were already packed. We stood there looking at the departure board and chose a place to go. We spent that night in Florida!
Once we had children, I quit working so that I could stay home with them. Our love to "go" at a moment's notice didn't change much. We went on a couple of family trips like the one to Disneyland with our friends the Crandalls. They were going with their family (family reunion) and one of the families was not able to go at the last minute. So they called us, we packed up our 3 little boys and left. Best trip to Disneyland ever! (Well, other than the fact that our stroller was stolen while we were stuck at the top of a ride..but hey, that just added to the adventure!) Many of our friends also knew that they could call us almost anytime and we would jump at the chance to join them for a date night, family activity, or even camping.
But things have changed. I knew that, but I think that this discussion with our friend really brought the reality of it to the surface for me and quite frankly, made me a little sad. I think that for everyone as you have more children, the ability to be spontaneous becomes less and less. But when you add in a child (or two) with special needs, it is an even bigger challenge. A child who is medically fragile takes it to an even higher level of difficulty.
As I think about it, I think the last spontaneous trip we may have taken was our trip to Italy where we ended up in Holland. Ha Ha! That one sure wasn't planned or prepared for.
What a lot of people who do not have medically fragile children do not understand is how much work goes into taking care of these children behind closed doors. How much it takes to get ready to leave the house for even a few hours. How much equipment and medication has to be brought along for their basic needs as well as the "just in case" items that your child may need, possibly to keep them alive while you are away. We have to think about having a power source to run their machines. We have to prepare their food ahead of time, because stopping for a hamburger along the way just isn't an option. The list goes on and on.
So, when I got a call last Wed. night from Melissa at the Ryan House stating that they had room available this week and would love to have Bryce and Annalise come stay for a few days, I was excited with the thought of a spontaneous trip once again. We had to decide quickly if we could make the arrangements, pull our kiddos from school, and make that Summer Staycation that never did quite happen this Summer, happen now.
-To be continued-
...after our vacation...