Saturday night, someone called us from my daughter's phone and my first reaction was that there had been an accident. Once I got over that shock, we learned she had left it. Then I got to stew all night about making the trek to pick it up. It's an easy drive, but not a lot of fun along the way. So I began the googling and texting.
Only one person I know truly lives along the route and she didn't answer. I decided to hit the Gurnee Mills Mall after the phone retrieval for a store or two with lunch. Then hit a pumpkin patch or farm stand on the way back. That seemed like the best use of our time and our trip. Sunday I picked up my kid from her sleepover and we were off.
Two hours after I left my house, we had secured the phone. Then we hit the mall. I figured Burlington was the best route and I could have spent hours in there smelling candles, looking at the cute things, and just wasting time. Since I don't need anything and we had just shopped days before, I settled on some grown up looking super soft p.j.s. I figured if I had to spend a lazy Sunday driving around, I deserved something good.
We were lucky there was a food court right outside Burlington, so we ate and rolled out to start the trek home. There are tons of smaller farm stands and pumpkin patches on 1-73 that we never hit, so I stopped at one. We bought a pumpkin cream cheese turnover that was to die for! I love the little mom and pop shops. We try to spend there, too, instead of the larger places that get most of the revenue.
We made it home safely and had a discussion about responsibilities, safety, and being aware of your surroundings. How many times have you changed plans for your kid? Or adjusted the menu to have kid friendly food? Or canceled because something wasn't kid friendly? We aren't THERE any more, but using a whole Sunday to track down a phone was definitely a life lesson for her and earned me "Best mom ever" award for the week. And I still wouldn't have it any other way.
