You never really know which of the little things you do as a parent matter. Do the girls care if Santa wraps presents? Does it matter if the cookies are made from scratch or will store bought do? If the first day of spring comes and goes without a trip to Rita's, will anyone complain?
That last question was one I was going to risk.
I've taken Alexis for free Rita's every first day of spring for as long as I can remember. I'm sure there are years that we have missed, but I couldn't tell you which one because ... maybe we haven't missed a year? I don't know. This year we were set to miss it, though, because I'm traveling for work.
Whoops.
Probably should have scheduled that better.
Anyway, I didn't think it was going to be a big deal and was just going to skip and not say a word about it. Mila certainly wouldn't notice and I really didn't think Alexis would either. Alexis doesn't even like sweets, after all. But then I happened to notice an "Open" sign lit up on a Rita's the other day, so one thing led to another and I left work a few minutes early so I would have time to take the girls to Rita's before heading for the airport.
Two things happened.
1. Mila literally CHEERED when we pulled into the parking lot. "HOORAY!" and a fist pump ... the whole nine yards. She then proceeded to inhale a Blue Raspberry Italian Ice, lingering just long enough to turn her entire face blue.
2. Alexis lit up like it was Christmas morning and she just opened a new cell phone. Seriously, she smiled so hard I thought she might hurt herself. She threw in a, "I thought we were going to miss it!" and a total admission that she cared.
So instead of free Italian Ice on the first day of spring, I treated the girls to not-free Italian Ice on the day before the first day of spring. It turns out, that was good enough to count as one of those little things that matter. Whodathunkit?