Everything Comes At A Price

And This One I’m Willing To Pay

By – Jeannine Miller (jmiller@mossbuildinganddesign.com)

Ever since the Easter Bunny brought my kids season passes to Kings Dominion in lieu of candy (EPIC FAIL, but that’s for another time), they have been counting the days until school was out and we could head to the amusement park.

Yesterday was that day.  I loaded up my kiddos and a couple of friends and off we went.  We did everything -- I mean EV-RE-THING -- we could do in ten hours at an amusement park.  While the management of five kids with varying levels of thrill-seeking needs wasn’t a walk in the park, it was totally worth it.

I tried every single ride they wanted to go on and it was AWESOME.  I love love love roller coasters and now that my non-rollercoaster-loving child is old enough to stand on the platform and wait for me to ride with my rollercoaster lovers, I’m in heaven.  If the park rated it a Level 5 “Aggressive Thrill,” I was on it.  There were even two rides which had me near tears I was so scared, but they were great too.

And the junk food…holy cow, did we eat junk food.  I’m pretty sure Dr. Atkins was rolling over in his grave.  I’m talking cheeseburgers, fries, ice cream, pretzels, funnel cakes and sodas – it was disgustingly fantastic.

We closed the place down and headed home a bunch of happy campers.  I was pleasantly fatigued and fell asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow.

And then my alarm went off.  Good God, what happened to me?  Yesterday I was a kid; today I’m a geriatric.  Did a Mack truck come by overnight and run me over?  I look like I’ve been on a 3-day bender.

Wait a minute.  Is this what middle age is all about?  At 44, I still have the desire and ability to do everything I did as a younger person, but the bill comes due the next day and it’s hefty.  Brutal, I tell ya.  I’ve taken two naps today and it’s not even 2:00pm.  I guess I should look on the bright side:  If this is the middle, then 88 is the end.  And I’m good with that.

And now a word from my sponsor:

In addition to blogging about all things home and family-related, Jeannine Miller manages Moss Building & Design’s HandyMOM 101 workshop program and coordinates Moss’ philanthropic efforts in the community