I promised.....

...and a momma never goes back on her word. Back in the fall when it was just the three kids and I up here in MN; we were pinchin' pennies and looking for cheap entertainment. It was a tough lesson in doing without for those kiddos who were used to going to the theater now and then and eating out at least once a week. Add in the trips to Hershey Park, the ice skating rink, Chuck E Cheese, and weekend Dairy Queen runs and life was pretty sweet. Then came ....

... the move, along with two house payments and double utility costs. Things were tight. Real tight.

During one of those moments when I was trying to explain to them why we couldn't afford to go to Mickey D's or why they had to pack instead of buying lunch at school - I promised them.

I promised them that when the house sold; we would go to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America and "eat our guts out and ride all day until we threw up. "


Yeah, I really said "throw up". What kind of mom promises that?


Well, they had no idea that today was the day.

So we went.....

and we ate,

and we rode.

And then we went home to take a break, and then back to eat and ride some more.

We can do that ya know ,when the mall is only 10 minutes away.

Nobody threw up like I promised; but we were okay with that.

I believe the biggest lesson they learned is not about being rewarded, but about what they can really learn to live without. During that time period they helped cook food for a family at church, donated their old toys and clothes and helped pick out goodies to put in a shoebox to mail to a child in Columbia. They understood that no matter how bad they think things are, that things could always be worse and we still need to help others.

Don't forget to check out other Sunday Snapshots at Ni Hao Y'all