Being Sneaky

Sometimes I think I am so clever. I often chuckle to myself about some little scheme or prank that I have come up, but they never pan out. The truth is, I am no good at being sneaky. The look on my face will tell you if I'm up to something, and if I try to tiptoe up behind you, I'm certain to trip over something along the way and dump that cold glass of water over my own head. I can't even play hide and seek. I might have the very best hiding place ever, but without fail I give myself away with a giggle when someone walks right past me.
I have to try extra hard at Christmases and birthdays. In my opinion, gifts at these times should be a surprise, so if you blurt out where you went shopping and exactly where the presents are hidden, you've ruined half the fun. Despite my deeply-held belief that honesty keeps you out of trouble, I have been known to lie right to someone's (mostly Isaac's) face during the holidays, just in an attempt to keep him guessing. I know, I need to repent.
Isaac's birthday is this Saturday, and he is going to be OLD. Because I think turning OLD is kind of a big deal, I accepted his request for a rather expensive birthday present. Unfortunately, this took some planning on both our parts, and left me with no surprise for his birthday. Now comes the scheming. To me, it appeared that the best way to mess with him (I mean surprise him ... sort of) was to make it seem as though I ordered his gift online, and it didn't come on time. Meanwhile, I'd have the present stashed in some clever hiding place, ready to miraculously appear just after he'd given up hope for it.
On Monday, the kids and I climbed into our new minivan and headed to BestBuy. Lizzy knew this was to be a secret trip, and she was not to tell Daddy anything about it. Unlike me, Lizzy's actually pretty good with secrets. We dashed in, made our purchase, and hurried back out with just enough time to beat Isaac home for lunch.
Which we would have done.
If the car had started.
Can I just remind you that we bought this car less than three weeks ago? The wagon was in the back and we were less than two miles from home, so for a moment I considered leaving the stupid thing, but retrieving it would have been too much of a hassle, so I did the only thing I could think of, which was to call Isaac and have him come bail us out. At least then we could keep the car seats with us. So that's where Isaac found us 15 minutes later, right in front of the store where I had bought his birthday present, and no way to hide that fact. So much for being sneaky.