Something Jason and I struggle with is making sure each of our individual children get enough quality one-on-one time with us. We finally seem to have hit a solution by just picking random dates on the calendar and marking them off as "Mom and Ike Night" or "Dad and Ezra Night." We have no specific plans for what we're actually going to do on those nights, but dammit, we're going to do something. 

For the last couple months, Mom and Ike night has mostly been about ribs. Ike loves ribs. He is otherwise our pickiest eater by far, but ribs, man. He will eat the shit out of some ribs. 

Chocolate milk is another must for Mom and Ike Night.

(Please note the happy face drawn on the chocolate milk. He did that because that's how chocolate milk makes him feel. Thank you, chocolate milk!)

These nights are a screen-free zone, so we usually bring along some word searches and books and art supplies.

(And plushies. So, so many Very Important Plushies.)

This past Wednesday was our latest Mom and Ike Night, and our plan was ribs, chocolate milk and a trip to Michael's for more art supplies. 

We ordered a full rack to share, but I actually didn't end up getting to eat very many. The fries were good, though!


And somehow he ended up getting double-served on the chocolate milk. 

On the way to Michael's, however, you'd have thought I was the one drunk on chocolate milk, because I almost missed my turn, caught myself just in time, and then...BLAMMO, nailed the curb of a median with the passenger side of the car. 

(In my weak-ass defense, it was dark and raining pretty hard at the time, and I didn't realize the left-turn lane was boxed off by a long, narrow median and just managed to clip the very end of it.)

(And yes, I realize the median is probably there to prevent dumbasses like myself from going, OOPS THAT'S MY TURN! and cutting in at the last minute. But OOPS IT WAS MY TURN.)

Ike, naturally, thought we'd gotten into an actual, major car crash and burst into tears. (A Mom and Ike Night first! Ribs with a side of childhood trauma!) I tried to reassure him that no no no, I just went over a curb, it happens, the minivan's been through worse, everything is fine, fine, fine.

(Narrator Voice: Everything was not fine.)

I managed to damage the sidewall on not one, but BOTH passenger side tires. They were flat and the minivan was noticeably leaning by the time we pulled into the parking just a few minutes after impact. 

We went to Michael's as planned and took a Lyft home, as I decided I'd rather deal with a tow truck in the light of day and not in the rain -- and definitely not with a small child for whom this is was all Terribly Scary and Anxiety Inducing and who keeps re-telling the story to everyone as The Time Mom Got Into A Car Crash And Almost Killed Us All. 

(I also bought him literally everything and anything he wanted at Michael's but he keeps leaving that part out.) 

The car was due for some new tires anyway, and y'all know how much Jason loves buying tires, so that's been taken care of. It might be a little while before Ike trusts me behind the wheel however. I picked him and Ezra up from an afterschool program yesterday in Jason's car and I've never seen him get his seatbelt buckled so quickly. 

"WATCH OUT FOR CURBS, OKAY?" he commanded. 

The good news is that the experience did not diminish his excitement and commitment to Mom and Ike Night, as I discovered today that he's already marked our next one on his calendar.