What's The Opposite of Tranquility?

  I had a vision of tranquility.....serenity.....peace....quiet....restfulness....sedateness.  The vision was there.  I had high hopes of it.  I even expected it. 

  I should have known better.  This is not my first rodeo.  I am not a newbie at this mommy stuff.  I shouldn't have been surprised or disappointed that my tranquility did not come to fruition.

This is what I envisioned would occur yesterday afternoon at the lake.....

....But this is not what happened.

I actually sat in this chair reading that book for about two and a half minutes.  Could've been less.

Yesterday after church, the boys began pleading to go bass fishing.  We live next door to my parents, who have a catfish pond.  We do not live next to anyone with a bass pond...therefore....to take the boys bass fishing would mean that we would have to load up fishing gear for all three boys.  I would also have to pack food, drinks, wipes, etc.  We would have to drive to the lake and get everything set up.  Bradley was working.  I had run a half marathon the day before and really wasn't in the mood to fish.  I wanted some R&R.  And I really wanted the house cleaned, too.

My vision for the afternoon was to clean up the house and then order pizza or something equally unhealthy and crash in front of a movie.

The boys vision of the afternoon was bass fishing at the lake and catching tons and tons of 'whoppers'.

So...I decided to compromise with them.

I told them that if they would help me clean up the house a bit by doing their chores, then I would carry them fishing.....on ONE condition.

The condition was that I did NOT have to bait a hook, remove a fish from a hook, or touch anything related to the fish.  I typically don't really mind doing the fishing stuff, but I just really wanted to chill for the afternoon.

My deal was that I would drive them to the lake and take pictures of the fish they caught and relax with my Kindle and read a book.

Tucker, being 13, agreed to handle anything fish related that the little boys needed help with.

They quickly agreed to this wonderful compromise and were beyond elated that I would carry them fishing.

We got the house kind of picked up.  The dishes were washed.  The floor mopped.  The toys picked up.  The counters wiped down.  The toilets cleaned.

So, we loaded up and off we went.

Within a couple of minutes of arriving, Carter caught this.....

....and then this.....

...and then another.

The boys had started a competition amongst themselves to see who would catch the most weight of fish, so they were desperately trying to reel some in. 

Carter was in the lead and the other boys were frantic.

 In their intense excitement, they ditched all previous offers to help each other take the fish off the hooks and I was left to step in to do it.

So....the Kindle was put back into the car.  The beautiful wicker chair sitting lakeside was abandoned.

And I became a fish photographer and hook remover.

We stayed at the lake for about 3 hours.  During the 3 hours......I tied on hooks, put on new bait, removed a hook from a finger, weighed fish and removed hooks from fish lips.

I read 4 pages of the book I brought to read.

Just so the record is straight....

I got totally cheated in the compromise I made with the boys.

My afternoon was not tranquil....or serene....or peaceful....or quiet....or restful....or sedate.
It was quite the opposite.

Oh, well.

Tranquility is overrated.