Oh the Drama of Red Balloons on a Rainy Day

Friday was "B" day for LaLa at preschool. She was so excited that she had thought of taking balloons for her class for show & tell. She was just so animated and cute as she "practiced" her showing and her telling. We woke up Friday to an very wet day! When I woke up the girls, I told them it was a good sleepy day. I just wanted to climb back into bed and listen to the rain. It had rained all night, and the torrential downpour that morning didn't seem that it was ever going to let up. LaLa said, "balloons make everyone happy even on rainy days!"

We rushed off to preschool with the balloons in the back. Several times, she asked, "mama, are the balloons okay?" I'd assure her they were just fine. We make our way with several helium balloons, a backpack, and a three year old into the foyer of the school only to find that her red helium balloons were now dragging on the floor! LaLa exclaimed, "what happened to my balloons? they aren't floating anymore." Then, after thinking a minute, she said, "i guess they didn't like the rain and decided to go back to bed too! My friends will just have to get sleeping balloons on a rainy day."

The mama worry in me couldn't let it go. I thought the balloons may perk up once they dried off, but I didn't want her to have "sleeping" balloons for show and tell. So, off I went to Publix (which is very expensive where balloons are concerned) to buy another 8 balloons. This time they were just the green latex balloons, which I had the balloon lady put into two bags to ensure they would stay dry. The balloon lady told me that the helium will shrink when the balloons get cold, but they would expand when they warm back up. Now, I have had A LOT of schooling! AND, I do not remember anybody teaching me that in any of my schooling! It would have been very helpful on this rainy, wet, stressful day trying to make my three year old's show and tell on B day happy!

I arrived at the school, signed in, and proceeded to take the green FLOATING balloons to her classroom. It was during snack time. LaLa ran to me and threw her arms around my legs saying, "Mama, you brought me balloons that are awake! My heart is just so happy!" Well, that made my excursion on a wet and gloomy day very worth it...even the ridiculous amount of money I had spent on balloons! By the way, the red Mylar balloons were still "sleeping".

By the time I got home, I had forty five minutes before we had to load back up and go get LaLa. It was just one of those days! As Little Bit and I waited in the car pool, we start to see LaLa's little class coming out of the door under the awning on such a rainy day with two floating and "awake" balloons each. As soon as LaLa saw me she said, "mama, the balloons woke up. Now, we have two!" Oh well! At least there were happy children on a rainy day....even if this mama was exhausted and wondering how I possibly missed the helium lesson growing up!

Mama Drama Rule #27: Just accept that we, as mamas, will do the craziest things to ensure our children's happiness...even if in the long run, it didn't even matter in the first place!