When our boys were growing up, we had a wonderful family dog who loved to ride in the car. The fact that we stopped at the Dairy Queen after we adopted her, to celebrate with ice cream cones all around, probably forged her early connection to car riding and happy events. At any rate, she was always up for a ride in the car. Unfortunately for her, sometimes our rides took us past the Dairy Queen to the vet’s office. These were two vastly different destinations: one anticipated, the other-not so much! Yet she never balked at an invitation to ride in the car. To her, all trips were Dairy Queen opportunities, and, if once in a while she was disappointed when the car stopped at the vet’s, she was willing to take that risk rather than miss a trip to the Dairy Queen.
My husband and I just returned from two days with our 4 month old and 4 year old grandsons. We spent the night with them while their parents had a well deserved overnight break. For these little ones, every day is a Dairy Queen day and begins at an hour retirees only see on the PM clock. They don't want to waste a minute at either end of the day. Kudos to all parents who are raising their children to anticipate Dairy Queen days while equipping them to bounce back optimistically from anything less.
