Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

“When will you understand that being normal isn’t necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage.”

The movie? Practical Magic.The year? 1998. The ratings? Not good. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

     What I’m really interested in on this particular day are those strange people you see all over the world. Maybe they’re at the mall, maybe at school, maybe at church, or maybe even the park.

A story for example:
     This lady in my ward at church has a brain tumor—and it’s pretty bad. So bad that she has lost her sight and she can no longer lift things or drive. Sad, I know. But this lady is probably one of the nicest people I've ever met. So I babysit for her while she goes to doctor's appointments, and basically whenever she needs someone to help out. This past Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, I babysat for her children in the afternoon. It was the perfect kind of day. Low to mid-seventies, and after watching the children like a prison guard watches prisoners without chains on for about four hours, I decided that we all needed a trip to the park for a cool down.

     This year is my last year at home for Mother's Day-- I'll be going away to college in the fall. And so I wanted to go out with a bang. So between the presents, a scarf and a necklace, I bought for my mom, and the breakfast-in-bed ordeal I was planning, complete with a Raspberry-Citrus Slushie that was to die for, Mother's Day was on my mind. Each picture the children colored was for their mother's special day.

     But I was still feeling disappointed with my efforts. All of the pictures were abstract, and no one wanted me to write, "I love you, Mommy" at the top. But I figured, at least we've done something.

     So up at the park, all the swings are taken. One in particular is occupied by a fourteen-year-old boy who looks far too big for it. He eventually got off but when you babysit, you tend to watch people closely--even if they are fourteen. This boy was talking to all the adults at the park and the children. He was obviously harmless, but he was a little weird. And yes, in my prejudiced mind I was thinking, "Okay, steer clear of this one."

     Then all of a sudden I look over and this boy has pulled out a balloon animal kit, and is making balloon animals up the wazoo! He quickly stopped and switched to Mother's Day flowers such as these:

      The best part was he was giving them out for free--as a promo for his business! Although the children wanted to go home and go inside, I made them all wait in line for flowers for their mother. It was like a cherry on a sundae to their Mother's Day presents.   

      The best part was he was giving them out for free--as a promo for his business! Although the children wanted to go home and go inside, I made them all wait in line for flowers for their mother. It was like a cherry on a sundae to their Mother's Day presents.   

      As we were leaving the park, this boy gave me his business card and told me to call him anytime I was having a party and needed balloon animals. I mean, I'm eighteen so I don't think I'll be needing too many balloon animals made for me in the near future. :) But if you'd like his information for your next party, you can email me and I'll send it to you.

     Once again, appearances were proven wrong today, and an odd, but obviously kind and talented boy presented me with three balloon animal flowers for Mother's Day. I'm fairly certain I got a bigger kick out of this than the children. One popped before we even got home, and no one was too disappointed. But what can I say? I'm a sucker for stupid, sentimental gifts.