Pushing the Envelope

I'm a schedule-keeper.  Pretty much anyone who knows me well could tell you exactly what my children and myself are doing based solely on the time and the day of the week.  Part of that is my natural personality type.  Another part is that my daughter was a difficult baby and I found that by doing the same things, the same way, at the same time I could avoid many meltdowns and conflicts.  Put her to bed at 6:45...problem.  Put her to bed at 7:30...problem.  Put her to bed at 7...no problem.  Unfortunately this isn't working as well as it once did but that's not really my point!
So, this past weekend my children both did things that were waaaayyyyy off of my schedule. 
My daughter went to a birthday party.  An hour before her "magic" bedtime.  In Dallas, an hour away from my sister's house and three hours away from mine (not including Saturday night traffic).  It was my older niece's party and she really wanted my daughter to attend.  She went, she partied, she drank pink lemonade, and came home with my mother in time for church the next morning.  Yes, she was slightly wild-eyed from the excitement and the lack of sleep, but she had a blast and has been talking about it ever since. 
The very same day my son went to a car show with my husband and my father.  My dad builds old cars as a hobby and car shows are for him, a pretty big deal.  And this was the biggest show of the year, like the Oscars for car guys.  My dad and husband listened patiently and slightly blankly as I repeated the need for a diaper bag, sunscreen, lovey, organic bunny snacks, being home by an appropriate nap time, etc.  I think they even hit at least half of those requests.  However, nap time consisted of the poor boy finally passing out on Daddy's shoulder for a while as my dad and husband continued their tour.  When asked if he had fun, my son yelled "YES!!!" and has been shouting "car show" repeatedly ever since. 
Neither of these situations were handled exactly the way that I would have.  But, they had fun, they had experiences that do not come around very often, and the best part....they got to do it all while I was blissfully at work!