Neighborly

I got myself into a situation that I regretted for a moment, and then it turned into a great experience for me and the kids. You can't beat that. The other day they announced that there was "help-your-neighbor" day, whereby they were meeting and going around the community and helping people who could use a hand. I have no idea how they determine this, but they requested volunteers.

They said someone needed wood split and stacked, and of course, being the real man in training, said I wanted to help. That was a couple of weeks back, and then I thought nothing of it. When the actual day was approaching, however, I was asked if I would still help, and of course I said yes. However, when the actual day arrived, I had so many other things to do, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.

On top of that, A wanted to hang with mom, and N wanted to hang with me. This plan was disrupted by the fact that my morning was now going to be taken. I thought maybe they wouldn't need me, but JM called and left a message, so I couldn't back out.

On the bright side, the kids said they wanted to come and help, so I gathered them up, took them to the rec center, where they gave us directions on where to go. I figured that if the kids got bored enough, they could sit in the car and listen to NPR.

This, however, was not the case. There was a lot of wood to stack, and A&N jumped right in and helped the adults. I brought my maul and split about 30 blocks, and everyone pitched in to help. It was a really nice morning. In appreciation of our services, they served a Thai food lunch which was outstanding, and then we headed off to spend our days together, which meant that A went out with mom, and N and I went to the pool.

We met later on in Hanover to have dinner at, you guessed it, Boloco. What a nice day, but best of all, the kids had fun helping out a neighbor in need, and they enjoyed it. We are so proud of them.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Matt Willmann for the pic.