The little things

The kids hadn't worked since before the fire. Both had decided they were ready to go back and had told their boss. On Wednesday Aly called me while I was at work: "Does Emmett know he needs to work tonight?". It was 3:30pm. I didn't know he had to work and I would have bet that he didn't know either. I asked Aly if he was home yet and she said no, he didn't get out of school until 4:10. Work started at 5pm. Aly and I went into survival mode. "OK, you get in touch with Emmett and make sure he knows and I will zoom to Academy and buy some black pants and a belt". We knew work would provide the blue shirt but employees are responsible for the rest. His "rest" was toast.

At Academy, I realized my dilemma. The kids have been buying their own clothes for the better part of the past couple of years. I wasn't quite sure of Emmett's size. I grabbed 32x32 black khakis. That seemed right. But what if...? He is taller than me now. I grabbed 32x34 too. What if he's gained weight? 33x34 joined the pile. Plus two belts - who could be sure? I left with an abundance, reasoning that I'd just return whatever did not fit.

On the way home, I reasoned (to myself) with some confidence that 34s would not be too short, but what if 32 was too long? Hmm. Ok, I didn't have enough time to re-hem (who am I kidding? A lifetime would not have been enough time). I devised a backup plan: if I found myself in that situation, I would have to hem by safety pin. Just for the night, then I could properly hem them with needle and thread before next time he was scheduled to work. Except. I didn't have a safety pin.

Now, in and of itself, this should not have been a big deal, right? Because in my life before all of this happened, I would most certainly have *had* safety pins, but I would not have been able to find them. So this really was no different, right? Except in this situation, I started to lose it. I was seriously about to bust out crying. Over a safety pin. And *that* got me giggling. Thank goodness for my logical self because emotional Veek was a lost cause.

It's the little things.

Yesterday we got home from the grocery store with a new paper towel holder. Jack "set it up" and stood, admiring it. I said "You're just so happy to have that paper towel holder, aren't you?".

It's the little things that will make you, and the little things that will break you.