by Kimberly Due-Vacco

Created on: September 25, 2009

Have you ever fallen in front of a person and what was your reaction?

This isn't just a story about tripping and falling. The story goes far deeper than that. The fall itself is more of a metaphor for my life with my kids. Try as I may to make life fun for them, somehow I always end up falling just a little short of my goal.

Does everyone know what a snafu is? A chaotic situation? A problematic occurrence? A disordered circumstance? Yes, it can mean all of these things. But it is actually an acronym from WWII used to describe a particularly confounding, yet familiar occurrence.

Situation Normal All F*cked Up.

This is how I usually describe an outing with my family. There is an inevitable snafu that is destined to occur. And so it was tonight. We decided to go to the Cub Scout Pack's family night out at the local bowling alley. Bowling and dinner for the whole family for $24, what could be better?

I told the younger ones to eat a snack because we weren't going until 7:00, which is about an hour or so later than we normally eat dinner. No problem, they grab a granola bar and happily have an extra snack. So far so good. The older two kids are rounded up and everyone piles in the car. "This is a Cub Scout thing?" My 13 year old daughter chimes in as we are pulling out of the garage. "Yes, you knew that" I replied. "No, I thought this was a family thing." She says in the way only a thirteen year old can. "A Cub Scout family outing." I patiently told her. "That stinks!" Twelve year old son pipes in at this point. "Okay, guys let's make the best of it. We can still have a good time as a family, even with the Cub Scouts." Grumbling is audible from the back of the van. *Sigh*

We get there and start bowling and everything seem to be going pretty well. The lady who coordinated the event came around and asked us if we wanted pizza or a hot dog for dinner. Everyone chose pizza. At around 7:30 the kids started complaining that they were STARVING. I explained that I was not in charge of food, so they were barking up the wrong tree complaining to me. At 8:00 just about the time they were ready to start gnawing off their own arms, the dinner arrives, if you can call it that. One very small piece of pizza, a thimble full of soda and a cookie that could better have been used as a hockey puck. My kids are now in full whine/disappointment mode and I really can't say as I blame them at this point. "Go play some arcade games" I say as I shove a few quarters at them. Maybe the night

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>