Run Charlie, Run!

Evenings in the Hatcher household are stressful. By the time both Richie and I are home from work, it is after 6 o'clock. Then dinner has to be orchestrated. Dinner plus a toddler is basically like running a marathon. Every night, we run a marathon. The whole process of pulling it all together is a major accomplishment. Then we have to survive the actual eating process with wee little one trying to climb out of his high chair, throwing his sippie cup on the floor, and randomly spitting out his food. Don't even get me started on the clean up process.

Anyway, I basically brace myself each night when I walk in the door and prepare myself for an enormous shit show to unfold for a good 2-3 hours until we finally get the little people down to bed.

But occasionally.. very rarely… something special pops up, and the evening turns into something different. This happened unexpectedly recently when we decided Charlie needed new shoes for camp… like now. So, just he and I left the house to get him some new tennis shoes. 

It was a beautiful evening. A short storm had just rolled over us leaving the air a little cooler and the sky a soft color of pink. Before we pulled out of the neighborhood, we were greeted with the most amazing rainbow. Charlie and I were really speechless. You could see every color band, crisp and clear - it was a complete arch stretching across the entire sky. As we drove a little farther, you could see her twin sister expanding just outside her arch. A double rainbow! It truly was a remarkable site to see. Charlie and I took a detour up to the top of Bearden Hill so we could get out of the car and soak it all in. We were both mesmerized.

Running out of time, we continued on our mission and got to the store to pick out a pair of tennis shoes for Charlie. Being boy #2, he really has spent most of his life in Sam's hand me downs. He's never once complained about it - But I think it probably plays into what unfolded after he got his shoes.

When he tried his shoes on in the store, he ran across the store two or three times to make sure they helped him run faster. Indeed, they apparently did the trick. According to Charlie, he has never run so fast. He kept them on and showed me his new speed all the way out to our car. He also went on and on about how high he can jump now too! These shoes are quite spectacular!

The shoes were the topic of conversation the entire way home… all the new things Charlie was sure he could do now. The races he can win. The buildings he can scale. Nike's got it going on, I'm here to tell you!

When we got home, he raced into the house to get Richie and show him how fast he is now. We timed him running across the cul-de-sac a couple times. Amazing! Sam came out to see the new skills… We were all just blown away!

My heart was filled with joy watching my son feel so happy and appreciative of a new pair of shoes. It's so easy for kids to ignore those things, especially when they are constantly overloaded with stuff. It's difficult for them to keep things in perspective and remain appreciative. But I felt like Charlie had the perfect perspective on his shoes… His mama was very proud...

And Charlie was the happiest little man on the block :)