Singing in the Rain

We've had quite a bit of rain over the past few weeks here in North TX, turning our streets into what resembles the canals of Venice. One evening as Nicky and I navigated our way home in our gondola - er, car - we talked about the pouring rain and the thunder booming from above. We could barely see out the windshield, and the wipers worked overtime to keep our view of the roads clear. Massive amounts of rain splashed up against the passenger side (the side where Nicky's carseat sits), throwing even more water onto the car. Nicky announced "I ot scared", from the backseat while vigorously shaking his head from side to side. He's recently become more frightened of thunderstorms (I don't blame him) and such things as shadows in the night. I tried to make things fun and told him to pretend we were in a boat as we turned down our alley - little did I know that we would be floating our way to the house. I was only driving about 7 miles an hour, and water sloshed up on both sides of the car in huge waves. Nicky became very excited and yelled "what dat?!". I sped up ever so slightly; enough to make a bit more of a wave and all I heard from the back was "again momma! again!". He had forgotten all about the scariness of the storm and had a big grin on his face. We pulled into the garage, and when he got out of the car, he walked to the back to see the rain rushing out of the gutters, down the driveway, into the alley. Just then, a huge clap of thunder sounded and sent Nicky running to hide behind my legs! Not wanting him to develop more of a fear, I took him to the edge of the garage and I stuck my hand out just far enough to be able to fill it up with rainwater, which I promptly splashed at Nicky while laughing. He giggled and said "my turn!". I remembered how much I loved playing in the rain as a kid and I figured, "why not?". So, I let Nicky stand further out from the garage, playing in the rain and the water rushing from the gutters. We sang songs and he laughed, squealed, and jumped with joy as he was soaked with the rain. This kid loves to play in the water, and although the thunder continued to rumble overhead, he realized he was safe and that storms could actually be fun!