By Kathy Miele
I grabbed my purse and headed for the front door. “We’re out of milk,” I called. “I’m running to the store. Do we need anything else?”
“Can you get some dessert?” my son Alex called back.
“Can you make it cake?” my other son Max asked.
“Don’t forget lottery tickets!” my husband Steven called.
Twenty minutes later I was back with their requests. The boys were at the kitchen counter slicing themselves pieces of coffee cake and pouring glasses of milk as I walked over and gave Steven his lottery tickets.
“Thanks,” he said as he quickly scanned the numbers I’d gotten from the Quick Picks. “These look like winners.”
I had to smile. “I sure hope so.”
“You know what we should do if we win?” Steven asked.
“I say we go on vacation!” Alex called.
“Yeah, California!” Max added.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Steven agreed. “I think we should rent a Winnebago and start traveling all around the country.”
“Sounds like fun,” the boys agreed.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “That might sound fun to the three of you, but why would I want to go camping?” I was feeling a little frustrated at their idea of fun. “That means I’m parking every night in some campsite trying to cook dinner on a little stove and cleaning it all up in some tiny sink!” I was shaking my head. “That doesn’t sound like much of a vacation for me.”
Steven looked at the boys. “OK, we travel around the country but we’ll only stop at restaurants to eat.” He looked over at the boys.
“That sounds good,” the boys agreed.
“Wait!” I continued. “That still means we’re living in campsites every night. I’d be the only one figuring out how to get the laundry done along the way. I’d be the one sweeping the floors and cleaning the bathroom!” I shuddered at the thought. “How’s that a vacation for me?”
“So, if we win you’re saying you’d rather not travel?” Steven said.
“I’m not saying that,” I said. “I just don’t see why we’d have to rent a camper. Why can’t we fly different places and stay at 5-star hotels where I can order room service and have someone else clean up after you guys?”
“There’s no spontaneity when you fly,” Steven argued. “If we travel in a camper we can take our time and stop to see things we might not notice if we’re just flying in and out of big airports.”
“It still doesn’t sound like much of a vacation for me,” I said looking over at the boys for some support.
Alex stopped eating for a moment. “Do you realize you’re both arguing over how we’d spend imaginary money on an imaginary vacation right now?” he asked.
“I know it sounds silly,” I reasoned, “but, if by some chance we do win some day, I don’t want to celebrate by going camping!”
“Let’s do this.” Steven said as he tucked the ticket into his pants pocket. “Why don’t we win first and then we’ll discuss how we’re going to celebrate.”
“That sounds fair,” I said.
“Wow!” Alex was shaking his head as he looked at Max.
Max just shrugged his shoulders and started eating his cake again.
