Thinking About Being Spontaneous

I just posted about my 9th day of my Count Down to 40. It was sad, really. My poor children and I were so excited to go to my mom's and Target. I felt like I was being spontaneous because I had just decided this morning to go, I hadn't been planning it out all week or anything. Doesn't exactly define spontaneity, does it?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Spontaneity as follows:

Definition of SPONTANEITY

1

: the quality or state of being spontaneous

2

: voluntary or undetermined action or movement; also : its source

Examples of SPONTANEITY

1. the spontaneity of their behavior
2. spontaneity in their lives when they had a baby>

Uh - did you read that last line? Yep - I think some of my lack of spontaneity can be attributed to babies and kids, sure, but to think that a trip to my parents' house and Target qualified? Oy - it's worse than I thought, folks. Old-ladyness is setting in, for sure. Who in the world thinks that is spontaneous?!

You wanna hear spontaneous? Try packing a mid-sized sedan with four kids, buying camping supplies on your way out of town to go TOUR ARIZONA?! A trip through the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, Sedona. Plopping our tents down in the middle of a reservation  - where someone drove cattle through our camp at around 3am - scared the daylights out of us! Dana, Stacy and I were in one tent, and Mom, Dad and Geoff were in another. We had those little pop-ups. We were awakened by odd noises and some large shapes pressing up against the sides of our tents! How were we to know that they were going to move cattle through the area in the middle of the night? I guess that's what you get for being spontaneous - one of the best memories of our time in Arizona, and a great story to tell when you are trying to remember the last time you were actually spontaneous. My mom and dad did this kind of thing all the time. It used to drive me nuts, but now, I want those stories for my kids. Can you learn how to be spontaneous?

New goal - try to be more spontaneous! Not Target spontaneous, but maybe Hocking Hills spontaneous, since we are in Ohio, rather than Arizona. Seriously, fly by the seat of my pants really just means I don't want to be tied down or have deadlines. Spontaneity means embracing life - getting out there and doing something. I'm gonna give it a shot. It'll take some planning, but I am sure I can pull it off!