Top Ten
You know spring is near when the snow, all the snow suddenly melts and your basement floods.
Luckily the basement is unfinished, not so luckily all of our unpacked ready to move when we buy our house boxes are down stairs. Cameron brought up a good portion of the boxes and we tried to contain the water. However, the snow kept melting and the rain kept coming so while he was at work the next day I and the boys brought up the rest of the stuff. It was more than we had realized. I was trying so hard not to be grumpy, I kept reminding myself this is one of those bonding times with my boys where I can make the most of the worst.
So what do you do when your basement is flooded, your garage is now in utter disarray and your house now looks like a storage unit.
Top ten things to do with a flooded basement:
#10 Put your snow boots on and slosh and splash around in the basement.
#9 Get out the boogie boards.
#8 Invite the neighbor kids over for a pool party.
#7 Become a wild life refuge and let the local ducks enjoy a warm swim.
#6 Test everything that says ‘waterproof’ or ‘water resistant’.
#5 Make sail boats out of house hold items and see whose floats.
#4 Play adventure, where you can’t touch the floor or you’ll get eaten by sharks and alligators.
#3 Have a contest to see whose shoes are the most water repellant.
#2 Add bubble bath and run around in circles as fast as you can.
#1 Throw a Flood Party!
Despite the utter chaos not to mention mess our home had become over night the boys were loving it. They had become flood experts over night and would go down and check the status then come up and report just how much worse it was getting. They were rooting through stuff, digging in boxes and getting into all sorts of things. They had come across my storage box of wrapping paper. At this point I had thrown the towel in a long time ago. It was still too cold and miserable to be outside and they needed something to do which was really hard with so much storage in the way. And I needed a break so I gave them the green light and let them have what they wanted from the wrapping paper box. They began to wrap things and give them to each other. They went to bed that night wrapping away and in the morning we had gifts to open. Wrapping stuffed animals, old hot wheels, balls… That morning they went back to the box to sift through what was left and to their astonishment not only was there wrapping paper and ribbons in the box, but there were balloons and silly string, a boys delight! Their imaginations were running wild with creativity. Seeing I needed to quickly channel that creativity I mention they should focus their efforts on Dad and throw him a surprise party when he gets home. They spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping with duct tape, masking tape, string, ribbon with all sorts of papers. Piled neatly on dad’s bed were their lovingly wrapped packages. Anxiously waiting for the sound of dad’s jeep they paced the floors with excitement. When is dad going to be here, they’d repeatedly asked. Finally, when they heard his jeep pull up they ran to their positions and when he came through the door, they ambushed him leaping out yelling surprise while spraying silly string all over him. Chasing him through the house and up the stairs and backed into a corner we laughed ‘til our bellies hurt, our faces were red and we were gasping for air. Now it was time for presents and they took him to his room. He opened them one by one, finding all kinds of thoughtful personal and meaningful treasures even a wipes box full of loose change and allowances. They had taken such care in their wrapping and had planned and waited all day and now it was all paying off. It was a grand party indeed. Actually, it was the perfect party, I couldn’t have planned it better myself.
Luckily the basement is unfinished, not so luckily all of our unpacked ready to move when we buy our house boxes are down stairs. Cameron brought up a good portion of the boxes and we tried to contain the water. However, the snow kept melting and the rain kept coming so while he was at work the next day I and the boys brought up the rest of the stuff. It was more than we had realized. I was trying so hard not to be grumpy, I kept reminding myself this is one of those bonding times with my boys where I can make the most of the worst.
So what do you do when your basement is flooded, your garage is now in utter disarray and your house now looks like a storage unit.
Top ten things to do with a flooded basement:
#10 Put your snow boots on and slosh and splash around in the basement.
#9 Get out the boogie boards.
#8 Invite the neighbor kids over for a pool party.
#7 Become a wild life refuge and let the local ducks enjoy a warm swim.
#6 Test everything that says ‘waterproof’ or ‘water resistant’.
#5 Make sail boats out of house hold items and see whose floats.
#4 Play adventure, where you can’t touch the floor or you’ll get eaten by sharks and alligators.
#3 Have a contest to see whose shoes are the most water repellant.
#2 Add bubble bath and run around in circles as fast as you can.
#1 Throw a Flood Party!
Despite the utter chaos not to mention mess our home had become over night the boys were loving it. They had become flood experts over night and would go down and check the status then come up and report just how much worse it was getting. They were rooting through stuff, digging in boxes and getting into all sorts of things. They had come across my storage box of wrapping paper. At this point I had thrown the towel in a long time ago. It was still too cold and miserable to be outside and they needed something to do which was really hard with so much storage in the way. And I needed a break so I gave them the green light and let them have what they wanted from the wrapping paper box. They began to wrap things and give them to each other. They went to bed that night wrapping away and in the morning we had gifts to open. Wrapping stuffed animals, old hot wheels, balls… That morning they went back to the box to sift through what was left and to their astonishment not only was there wrapping paper and ribbons in the box, but there were balloons and silly string, a boys delight! Their imaginations were running wild with creativity. Seeing I needed to quickly channel that creativity I mention they should focus their efforts on Dad and throw him a surprise party when he gets home. They spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping with duct tape, masking tape, string, ribbon with all sorts of papers. Piled neatly on dad’s bed were their lovingly wrapped packages. Anxiously waiting for the sound of dad’s jeep they paced the floors with excitement. When is dad going to be here, they’d repeatedly asked. Finally, when they heard his jeep pull up they ran to their positions and when he came through the door, they ambushed him leaping out yelling surprise while spraying silly string all over him. Chasing him through the house and up the stairs and backed into a corner we laughed ‘til our bellies hurt, our faces were red and we were gasping for air. Now it was time for presents and they took him to his room. He opened them one by one, finding all kinds of thoughtful personal and meaningful treasures even a wipes box full of loose change and allowances. They had taken such care in their wrapping and had planned and waited all day and now it was all paying off. It was a grand party indeed. Actually, it was the perfect party, I couldn’t have planned it better myself.
2 Comments:
Nobody does little boys like you do Suzanne... You are truley my hero! Love ya Jen
That's hysterical! You write the funniest stories!! Duct Tape eh . . . sounds like your boys are ready to move to Alaska!!!!!!! That is the universal fix it, build it, create with, man gotta have it tool up here!!!! We have one Walmart that sells the MOST duct tape in the US. Walmart even gave them a funny plaque about it and they have little statues made from duct tape that people have made just to show off. Keep making me laugh with your stories, and if you guys are interested in an awesome drive to alaska, we'd LOVE to have you guys. Your boys would LOVE IT!!!!!!!! - Lisa
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