lessons in being flexible

Sometimes when you have kids you have to learn to be flexible, and to keep a clear head when plans change at the last minute.

A couple of nights ago I was fully expecting that we were going to have oatmeal muffins and fried potatoes. The potatoes were already in the pan, and I was working on the muffins. Then out of the blue I heard a crack and the sound of styrofoam hitting linoleum. There was Kevin, standing by the fridge and staring at an egg carton on the floor.

Five eggs had broken. "All right, I guess we're having scrambled eggs for dinner," I said, and started working on salvaging the eggs. The broken eggs went into a bowl, which I left on the counter so I could rinse off the three intact ones. Scrambled eggs are no big deal--we would just be having a nice big dinner.

After cleaning off the eggs, I turned to find the bowl tilted on its side. There was a puddle of eggs on the floor, and one egg yolk still floating in the bowl. Why do I keep forgetting that Kevin can reach that high? I don't know if it's to my credit that Kevin pointed down at the puddle and said, "No! No!" But I'll have you know that I didn't yell at him this time. Occasionally my patience still comes to my rescue, tried as it is.