Somehow, somewhere, Omi has gotten it into her head that Easter tradition for this family means going to Papa Joe's Pizza in downtown Boise. We went there ONCE after spending the day in the park one Easter and it has kind of stuck for whatever reason. We don't do Egg Hunts anymore, either. I don't even do baskets for them so much. Mostly, it's just a chocolate bunny now a days. I don't really see the point in "mandatory gift giving" cause someone somewhere decided to create a holiday that requires such things. But I do agree that there is some fun to be had on this day and things like eating chocolate bunnies are amazing, and since you can only get them at Easter time of year....that is what we do. But for the last couple of weeks Omi has been asking two questions: 1) Are we going to Papa Joe's for Pizza? 2) I would love to be able to do a scavenger hunt like you did for Nate that one year when his big present wouldn't fit into the basket.
For a week or so I kinda played around with the idea. Why? Why do we need to do this? What's the point? But the point is, Omi needs to feel like the family is still in tact. She needs to feel as though life continues in some kind of normal way after Nick died. And this is that. So I finally decided that we would do the scavenger hunt. While Angie was here, we went shopping for the prizes. I knew exactly what to get Omi, but where to find it? I knew Omi, Suzy and I had seen it a few months back while we were having a girl's day. And it hit me.. World Market. While in that store we found things for Suzy and Nate too. Something silly for Nate and something pretty and useful for Suzy.
With a sense of emotional relief this morning, I figured out what the heck was going on today. Omi has a bunch of grading to do for her "grading job" (this weekend has been a bit harsh so she is behind on getting that done....and it needs to be done by tonight.) Suzy has plans tonight. And I knew, given enough time, Nate would end up doing something. Like I said, Easter isn't a big deal in our house. So gathering us all up before we all separate for the day is a big deal. So off to lunch we went.... to Papa Joe's. Pizza was yummy and sooo sooo much of it! We have enough for dinner tonight too. *laugh*
Then returned home where I proceeded to get clues written down. That was the easy part. Making sure they were all where they were supposed to be and lead to where they are supposed to lead was the tricky part. Since the TBI, my brain doesn't do puzzles and problem solving very well. Ya.....I had to keep retracing my steps to make sure everything lead to where it was supposed to lead. (Not an easy job when you have 3 "kids" all around the house with eyes and ears everywhere!) Finally, with them all in place.....it was time to turn the kids loose. Inside the house, up and down the stairs, front yard, back yard, finding the "right" computer in a house with 8 computers....it was a bit of a challenge. But in the end, they worked as a team and found their prizes!
It's funny the "little" things that matter. Omi is the one who really wanted this. When Suzy found out what I was planning, she had said she had just told her friend that she missed doing stuff like this and wished she was a kid to do it again, and Nate was playing "adult" and acting like it was an imposition. But somewhere in the middle, Nate started having fun. The girls were laughing. No one could read my hand writing which made it even more challenging and together they had to work as a team to decipher my really bad writing. And when it was over, Nate was the first one to give us a hug and tell us thank you (with a huge smile on his face). Not 5 months after losing Nick, it's these little things, the unexpected moments of silliness and fun that really matter. Bringing the kids together. Letting them play. It makes me smile.
I'm grateful for Omi's ideas and need for tradition in times like these. It is what keeps the family moving in times when maybe we feel like we are stuck in the quick sand.
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