Detroit's Looking Good

This is the first rainy morning after a nice, long sunny streak (for Cleveland). I actually love the rain. I find it cozy and somewhat exciting. But the first thing I thought of when I opened my curtains this morning was "you don't know what you've got until it's gone." I appreciate the sunshine so much more when it's interspersed with rainy days. This past Sunday I traveled to Detroit for a speaking engagement. I decided to bring along my daughter Hindy so we could have some one-on-one bonding time. She has a friend in Detroit and made plans to hang out with her friend during my talk. I was wondering if Hindy would be bored - 3 hours there, dinner with me, an hour or two with her friend, then driving straight home. But she loved it. You know why? Because most road trips in our family involve LOTS OF FAMILY members together in ONE VAN with MULTIPLE BATHROOM EMERGENCIES and friendly discussion about which DVD, in fact, should be watched at any given moment. Also discussions such as who is gross, why, and how much. Finally, our classic road trip is 8 hours long - to New Jersey to visit family. So a three-hour trip, with just me (see, I don't comment on grossness, usually), I Love Lucy episodes to her heart's content, and totally customized bathroom stops look incredibly good by comparison. And this is why very annoying and uncomfortable situations are really, really good for our kids, and for us. So we can appreciate normal life - no, actually, we will think it's amazing. And it is.