Ben had to work at his new office (He is remote for now, but like I said earlier, getting a new job in a pandemic is weird. There are forms to fill out. Offices to move into. All that new job stuff that we take for granted in normal times that seems really weird now), so the kids and I were on our own. Since it's winter break, it didn't seem weird that the big kids were home all day, and it was actually lovely to be on my own with all of them like old times.
We ran by the library to grab my holds from the curbside pickup table. Then we went sledding for an hour or so behind the library (Minnie slept in the Ergo). I especially loved this because Dorothy, Cooper, and Jack had been sledding in our neighborhood for an hour and a half before we left, and tired-from-outdoor-play kids are the best behaved kids.
I was dreading the idea of the lunchtime crush without Ben to at the very least help me clean up, so we ordered Culver's online for curbside pick up. I put Minnie down for a nap while the kids ate at home, and after she woke up, we did a curbside pick up loop at two different Targets, listening to Christmas music really loud the whole time and effectively killing the rest of the afternoon. Before we knew it, Ben was home. JUST LIKE OLD TIMES.
Funny story about his first day. I am rarely ever able to surprise him on Christmas. Like, he sends me ideas for gifts, and I buy them. Plus! He keeps tabs on our online banking, so he knows where I am shopping. Still, the other day, he left to run some curbside errands, and Harry and I ordered him a bunch of stuff from his new school-- a sweatshirt, a polo, a hat, a coffee mug-- you get the idea. I knew he wouldn't be expecting it, and I was super excited to give it to him on Christmas morning.
Fast forward a couple of days to the package arriving on our porch. I was putting Minnie down, and Ben brought it in. He saw his school's name on the box and assumed it was for him. He loved the swag that he assumed his new job sent and went out to the backyard wearing the hat, carrying the cup, shirts slung over his shoulder, to show Harry. Harry was horrified, but Dorothy was the one to say, "Mom bought you that for Christmas!"
Ben said, "No she didn't!" and ran to his office to shove everything back in the box and tape it closed, which is where I found him.
At first, I was so mad that my one surprise wasn't one, but I was glad he liked the stuff, and it was a good last-day-of-work gift anyway.
Well, yesterday, when Ben got to work, his new office was full of swag-- a different hat, a different sweatshirt, a different mug, etc. And now? I am so glad he opened mine first-- I would have been crestfallen for sure to see him come home with that while mine was safely wrapped.
Speaking of wrap! I wrapped my last gift today!! Hooray!
No comments:
Post a Comment