It Rained on Our Parade

Last weekend was homecoming for the school John's nephews and niece attend. There was a lot going on to celebrate it. We didn't get to partake in all of the fun, but I made sure to fit the parade into our schedule thinking B would love it. I was wrong.

It had been sprinkling that day. As the parade time approached, so did heavier, steadier rains. My in-laws were going, and my dad joined B and I just for fun. I was glad to have the extra hands. Unfortunately, with all of us, I was the one stuck with the crappy broken umbrella. Within minutes I was completely soaked - down to my bra and panties even. B stayed mostly dry under my dad's nice big umbrella though.

As the parade began, the sirens wailed on several fire trucks. Brooklynn began to get panicked. She did not like the sirens AT ALL. She had my dad pull the umbrella down so far on them that they could not even see the parade. She kept saying she wanted to go home. Even when the sirens faded, she did not enjoy herself. She would not pick up candy. She barely waved to her 3 cousins who were in the parade.

Due to the rain, Bobby did not ride in the parade as he needs to keep his cast dry. Most of the intstruments couldn't play in the down-pour either. Poor Helen walked the whole route with her sax in the case at her side. Then she got sick. Why did we even go? Oh yeah, because I thought it would be FUN.

I was still puzzled as to why the sirens had bothered her so Sunday night when we began to hear several fire trucks speeding to a nearby location. She began wailing, "I don't want to go to Jail!"

Oops. That would be my fault. I had told her several times in recent months that if she won't get in her car seat, we can't go. If I let her ride out of her seat, the police would take me to jail. My intentions were good, but I guess I scared her a little too much. I tried to tell her that these sirens were to let people know that the fire engines were coming to get out of the way, so they could get by. I tried to tell her that they were going to help people in trouble, which used to be what she'd say when she heard them. I tried to tell her that mommy would never let them put her in jail. She wasn't comforted much until the sounds faded though.