Coupon, Glass Of Wine, Bed By 9

So yesterday morning, I realized that I was going to be kid/TJ free in the evening. That's a rarity in my life. Talon was staying at his dads, TJ was going fishing. I mean, I love my boys but this girl also loves a little peace and quiet aka 'me time'. I know you moms out there can relate. Anyways, as soon as I realized this, I knew exactly what I was going to do that night when I got home from work--  coupon, have a glass of wine, and go to bed at 9. Exciting, right? Welcome to what makes Dana happy. 

My mother raised me to use coupons. I'm not talking extreme couponing or buying stuff in bulk you don't need. I'm talking going through the Sunday paper, and clipping coupons for things that you already use/buy. It's very rare for me to pay full price for anything. The only exception with that is home decor, but that's another story for another day.

In the last month or so, I stumbled upon the best blog ever (aside from mine of course :)): Kroger Krazy. It's amazing. The blogger tells you exactly what the sales are and where to find the coupons to make the items even cheaper. It's so easy and requires very little time. I'm buying the same things I normally buy, just now saving on average 30%. Amazing I tell ya.  (I also recommend the Target, Cartwheel, and Shopular Apps)

And that was my plan for the night- coupon, glass of wine, bed by 9. But then my anxious 7 year old happened......

For those of you who don't know, Talon has really bad social anxiety. It's been a couple of years since his last bad bad episode, that is until yesterday. In the morning, I dropped Talon off for Day 2 of basketball camp. Day 1 he walked in, no problems, and was completely fine. Day 2, not so much. Why the difference? Day 2 he didn't have his cousin there as his 'comfort'. The large number of kids everywhere was intimidating to him. I pointed out some of his friends that he could join but it wasn't happening. Then all of a sudden his stomach 'hurt' and he was determined that he wasn't going to stay. At first, I patiently explained that he's just nervous which is why his stomach hurts but once he gets out there to play, he'll love it and have a great time like he always does and feel much better. Yeah that didn't work. By that time he told me he was NOT going to play. It was a flashback to October 27th, 2012. Click here to see what I'm talking about. 

As the minutes passed on and I started to become more and more late for work, my patience started to fade and it turned into impatience. I shamefully tried the old threatening tactic-- "If you don't at least try, you aren't going to the water park tomorrow !" I know that may seem a little harsh, but let me explain. It's not like I was trying to force him into doing something he didn't want to do. This kid loves basketball. He loves all sports. From sun up to sun down, he eats, breaths, and lives all thing sports. I knew he was just nervous and those nerves would quickly subside once he just got out there and did it. This wasn't my first rodeo with Talon anxiety. But finally FINALLY I talked him into doing it. I promised him that I wouldn't leave until he was comfortable. Within 30 seconds, he had a huge smile on his face, was having so much fun, and waved goodbye to me as I walked back to my car. It was a victory and exhausting all at the same time.

Now this is just the beginning.... 

After work, before getting my couponing on, I had to take Talon to baseball practice. He just joined a traveling team and hadn't made it to any of the practices yet due to our recent family events and Talon going to Florida with his dad. So it was his first practice. He had been looking forward to it all day, that was until I picked him up from my parents house. All of a sudden, his stomach started hurting again. I already knew what was happening.  But we continued on, I got him in the car and we were headed to the ballpark. By the time we got there, he told me he didn't feel good enough to play and then that's when I reminded him that the only reason his stomach hurts was because he was getting himself all worked up over nothing. I went through the spiel again " I know your nervous, but you are going to have so much fun once you get out there. You know most of the kids on your team and they are so excited that you are here!" Didn't work. By that time his dad showed up. Dad isn't quite as patient as I am. There was kicking, screaming, and crying, and that was just from me. Talon was wayy worse. Okay, so maybe I didn't do any of that, but I sure as heck wanted to. Again, my patience faded and I stooped to the threatening with the water park again and finally, FINALLY after 15 minutes, he finally joined his team BUT on one stipulation-- I had to stay and watch his practice, all 2 hours and 15 minutes of it.   

So long coupon, glass of wine, bed by 9.....

As I sat on the bleachers, I began thinking about all of the things I had planned on doing but couldn't do them now because now, I'm stuck at the ballpark. I'll be honest, I was a little frustrated. I'm a scheduled person. There's a million things (maybe I'm exaggerating a little), there are a lot of things I have to do and in order for me to do them all, I have to stay on a strict schedule.  From the time I wake up til the time I go to bed, my day is completely planned. It's just how I am. So this was throwing everything all off. But as I'm sitting there doing absolutely nothing except watching Talon play ball, I started thinking about what my Uncle David had said at Brice's funeral-- "When something like this happens (referring to death), time doesn't matter anymore." This is something my uncle has preached about for as long as I can remember-- time. I can recall several days stopping by the bowling alley, poking my head in his office to say 'hi' then 'bye' because I had somewhere I needed to be because I was always in a hurry, and he would always tell me,  "sometimes you just need to slow down, sit back, and enjoy the show." I'm guilty of not doing this, alot. I get so caught up in what's going on in front of me, I often miss what's going on around me. I actually blogged about this very thing last year. 

To read the full post, click.here.

While sitting on the bleachers, I realized this was one of those moments. Maybe my evening didn't turn out how I had planned but it was okay. There would be another day where I could coupon, have a glass of wine, and be in bed by 9, but today wasn't going to be that day. Today, my baby needed me there to support him and motivate him and be there for him, and there is no other place that I'd rather be. I don't want to look back one day and think to myself, " I wish I would have worried less about the things that didn't matter and more about the things that did," or "I wish I would have taken more time to just stop and enjoy life, and enjoy every single moment I could with Talon." Because I know that one day, those moments will be gone. And I have to start taking advantages of those moments right now, right this very second.

 I actually enjoyed being at the ballpark. The weather was amazing, I was in good company with other parents, and was completely entertained by kids playing.  And more importantly, I watched Talon's anxiety fade and he ended up having a great time. He left in a great mood and I went to bed (at 11) that night knowing all was well. 

Completely worth it.