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Love the Unexpected

Love the Unexpected

I was scrolling through Instagram yesterday and came across a picture of these cute little faces from MerMag. Right away I was smitten. I mean, who wouldn’t be. I mentally checked the idea away for “one-day” and moved on with my day.

I went back to the post today (told you I was smitten) and there was this great little comment on the picture.

LOVE IT! Doesn’t she perfectly describe parenthood? What parent hasn’t come to solution to a problem with their child at 1 AM? And how many times have we wanted to do something incredible but time and money squashed our original plans? More times that I care to count. In those moments, I often feel like I’m failing by not realizing expectations. Granted, those expectations are normally just in my head.

Through some simple cardboard faces, I was reminded that often the unexpected has the biggest payoff. That our kids don’t always need the biggest and the best. Sometimes they’re just as happy with an opportunity to be creative with mom or dad as they would be with the 10-hour-elaborate craft that ends up with more than one person in tears because of the stress. Remember mom/dad saying, “Why aren’t you having fun. This is supposed to be fun.” as they angrily cut/sand/glue something that you didn’t want in the first place. Been there.

While I do remember those times, I more fondly remember the times when mom made fairy’s out of leaves while we waited for soccer games to finish, or, dad joining in our best dinosaur impressions on the side of the road as we wait for the car to cool down. Now, those memory are priceless. I also remember how embracing the unexpected meant the best game of mini-golf in Germany; finding an Amish ice cream shop in Costa Rica; dancing in a summer storm in Florida.

Parenthood—and life in general—is more often than not about embracing what doesn’t go according to plan. Make your weekend mantra, “I’m going to love the unexpected.” Guess what? You probably will!