The Perfect Day of Play

Those of you in the 3% club are probably starting to feel like your vision statement is a reality. You can probably rehearse it without even looking at your paper. You may be noticing little changes starting to unfold, you may have met a new friend, things at work may have changed, or maybe your home life has started to evolve. Whatever it is, don't be afraid, remember change is good. If we're not growing we're dying.

It is time for us to move on to the next vision statement topic, THE PERFECT DAY OF PLAY. When you write this vision statement I want you to visualize every detail of how you would spend the perfect day dong something recreational. You could be going to Paris, Vegas, or Disney. Or you could be taking your 10 favorite friends out on your new yacht or maybe flying to Miami to go shopping. Whatever it is, make it big and vivid. Remember your vision has to "turn you on", it has to get your emotions going in order to be effective.

EMOTIONS = MOTION = RESULTS

Below is my perfect day of play vision statement. It was originally written May 2007. I updated it today, the original version had us with 2 boys and me pregnant with a girl. Since then things have changed and we have decided to stop at a 2 for 2 parent/child ratio. I will be honest and tell you I haven't been reading it like I should, but after reading it today it has me excited again so I am going to start reading it everyday like I should.

The Perfect Day of Play

It is the Friday before Christmas, 5am, the vehicle was packed the night before and we are off to the Orlando airport. We are meeting my brother and his family in NYC for a long weekend get together. We have made a tradition out of this and have done this every year for the last 4 years. My husband, myself, and our kids are piled into the car and we are off. We stop at Chick-fil-a and get breakfast (drive-thru). Then it is off to I-4, normally they call this the "parking lot", but today seems to be our lucky day, traffic is moving smoothly. It only takes us 45 minutes to get to the airport. We park at the Parking Spot and they give us a ride to the airport check-in. We are only going to be in NYC for three days, but from there we are headed to upstate New York to spend the holidays with the rest of the family. Therefore, we have a lot of luggage to check, five large suitcases and three carry-ons. Once our luggage is checked we go through security and head to our terminal. We are flying Jetblue direct flight and it will take about 3 hours to get up there. We wait about twenty minutes before loading begins. The baby, who is 19 months old, sits on my lap and Xavier sits between Rod and myself. Once the plane is loaded it does not take long before we are taxing out and then we are off. Xavier is a seasoned flyer, he has been doing this since he was one yr old, but this is the first time the baby has ever flown. Much to my surprise the baby falls asleep and is not bothered by the altitude. Once we are at the appropriate altitude and speed they allow people to get up and move about the cabin. The flight attendants come by with drinks and snacks. We take water and pretzels. Xavier and Rod are listening to XM radio with their disposable headphones. I am just sitting back looking at the clouds. Time goes by quickly and before we know it they are telling people to get back in their seats and put their seat belts back on. We are approaching our destination. The sky is clear and the flight was very smooth. We circle the airport and make our approach. Landing was just as smooth as the flight. It takes no time for the flight crew to get us off the plane. It is now 11:30am and we are already at the baggage claim. We get a luggage cart and patiently wait for our luggage to come around. It takes about twenty minutes or so and then we head to check my brother's flight. The board shows it landed on time. We decide we would just meet in front of the Budget rental place. So we head over that way. Jason, Sandy and the kids are already there waiting for us. They have a lot less luggage since they are going home in three days. We both rent a SUV, so we have plenty of room. Now that we are together and have our rentals loaded up, we are on a mission to get some lunch. We find a cute little pizza shop to stop at and we go in to eat. We are all starved and New York pizza is the best. The kids are happy to see each other. They are full of energy and are telling stories about what Santa is going to bring them for Christmas. And as usual, they are wondering if Santa will be able to find Xavier and Madison all the way in New York. I cut into the conversation and say "Of course he will, he hasn't missed you yet". Xavier just smiles and says "I know, mom". The server comes to the table and we order three large pizzas and our drinks. We chat some more and before we know it the pizza is being placed on the tables. The server always serves the first piece of pizza in New York, so once we all have the perfect piece we get the kids to settle down and say "Thanks", then it is time to dig in. We eat almost all the pizza, we were all craving NY pizza and it really hit the spot. For desert we get cheese cake and canolli and split it between all of us. By this time the kids are getting antsy and it is time to get to the motel. We are staying at the Embassy Suites. We each have a large bedroom with two queen beds, a separate living room, a large bathroom, and a micro kitchen. We get unpacked and comfortable and meet downstairs in the lobby. We have our coats and mittens on and we are going for a walk. We are going to go see the big Christmas tree in Central Park. I don't know who is more excited, me or the kids. The air is crispy, but not too cold, and there is a very light dusting of snow flurries starting to pile up. The street lights are twinkling in the flakes as they fall. It is absolutely beautiful. Halfway there we stop in a coffee shop and get some hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. Once we get to the park we take a ton of pictures and just stare in amazement at how big and beautiful the tree is. It seems like it gets bigger and better every year. There are people caroling. It is so festive, it is at this moment when we feel the spirit of Christmas. The kids are starting to get a little chilly and hungry. We decide to go to the deli down the street and get soup and sandwiches. Once we are all full and recharged we decide to bring the kids to the skating rink. All the kids, except the baby, play on a hockey team, so they are pretty good at skating. Xavier thinks it is neat to skate outside, because in Florida he has to skate inside. The kids skate for about an hour, then we head back to the motel. The snow has started to fall much harder. The weather is calling for 3 inches by tomorrow morning. Once we get back to our rooms, the kids take showers and get into their pajamas. Jason, Sandy, and the kids come to our room, we pull out the couch bed and rent a Disney movie for the kids to watch. While the adults sit at the table and talk, the kids fall asleep on the pull out bed. It is now 11pm and it is time for us to go to bed, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Jason and Sandy leave the kids on the couch bed and they go back to their room. Rod and I go to bed as well. We set the alarm for 6am. Tomorrow we are going shopping and the kids are going to Macy's to see Santa. It is the perfect ending to the perfect day of play.