This morning, AT awakes to some pain in his foot. Eager to use this to get out of chores he runs down the stairs to show it off. To our amazement; he the gross appendage quickly made us believe in Bigfoot. It was swollen to twice its size, earning him the name “club foot” for the day. Needless to say, mom was concerned and called for a doctor’s appointment; which to our amazement she was able to get. Unfortunately for mom, dad was in meetings all day so she would be venturing out on her own with a crew of 6. The horror quickly became panic as mom realized that her driver’s license had expired. Now to be honest, these things don’t sneak up on you – but it is a known fact that with each kid you lose a few brain cells – and with 6…. Well the math doesn’t work in her favor.
Anyway, what to do next. Mom calls dad, who rearranges his schedule
the best he can. How accommodating that he is willing to drop mom off at the
doctors between meetings and will pick her up when he is done. Not the answer
mom was hoping for, but it isn’t the first time they have made things work in
less than ideal situations. So off to the doctors they venture, 6 kids, a
stroller, and one very large foot! As they sit there awaiting the doctor in an
overly small room with an overly large brood of children a wonderful voice interrupts
the imagined silence “Code red, building 2, second floor”. A curious look
proceeds the quick realization that the doctor’s office is in building 2. The all-powerful
OZ comes back on to say “Do not use fire exits to evacuate.” Now, mom and 6
babies are still seated in a room the size of a shoebox – becoming more and
more fearful each time the mysterious voice shouts out a cryptic message. Finally
the suspense is too much and mom swings open the door to be met with: “Don’t worry
ma’am, it is only a fire – we will come back to get you if we need to evacuate.”
All mom hears is “Go back to your shoebox and pray the fire does not consume
you.” Moments later the young man returns a little more frazzled to start the
evacuation. 6 kids, a stroller, and one extremely large foot making their way
down the stairs. If you cannot quite picture it, imagine a 3 legged pack mule
carrying a golf cart down a mountain. Not a pretty site by any means.
With the extreme hope that some strong young man would take pity
and assist her, mom begins the journey downward. The pity never comes and yet
the evacuation is a success. A head count commences with everyone present –
including the extra-large foot which is now large enough to name – and name it
we did. We will miss “Randy the clubfoot” when he is gone… Anyway the fire is
now out, and everyone is allowed back in. The story progresses in a seemingly
normal fashion. AT has a bad case of poison ivy… leading to an hour at the pharmacy
waiting for the prescription. Mom make the much need phone call to dad – “Come
save me…” which was only met by a silent hesitation. The meeting was going to
run over… way over… 6 kids and Randy now impatiently await… Now anyone with
kids knows that after 2 ½ hours at the doctor’s office, one kid is going to
drive you crazy. Still waiting as the Doctors exit the hospital for the day…
you can see the grim smirks as they all silently walk by. The phrase “better
you than me” is written all over their faces. It may not have been said, but in
this moment of misery it was all that could be seen. Finally – 3 ½ hours at the
hospital and the chariot arrives. We wish that was the end of the adventurous
day, but in a desperate hope to salvage a day of utter Chaos, we venture to
Pizza Hut on the way home. Bad idea! One drink of the so called soda was all we
could take! Dad promptly cancelled our order as everyone gagged on what was
supposed to be a refreshing drink. It is only speculation, but we are almost
certain that a skunk died in the soda machine. The taste still lingers in my
mouth. Now off we go now, well past
dinner time to continue our horrific adventure. Off to the next restaurant to
see what else can go wrong. Luckily, some semblance of sanity was salvaged by a
pleasant dinner.
Now back to this revelation – the lesson for today:
God certainly does
have a sense of humor and He chooses the best times to remind us! Today we were
left with one of two options – wallow in our misery (which admittedly was the
first approach) or thank the Lord above for all the headaches He has blessed us
with – even Randy. For without Randy and the Chaos of the day, there would not
have been the laughter at dinner tonight.
