A Day in the Life

Today was a fairly normal day (after an early start with an 18 month old who wanted breakfast at 5 am).  I dropped Alasdair off at work, brought the girls to music class at a friend's house, played & lunched with other friends, painted trim in my office while Adara napped and Emily did quiet time.  I walked into the kitchen to find Emily sticking tiny pieces of styrofoam into her ears.  After some experimenting, decided I couldn't stick the tweezers far enough into her ear to remove it all without potentially causing damage.  Called the doctor and made an appointment to bring her in at 5.  Emailed Alasdair to let him know not to expect dinner made.  For the hour and a half my mothers helper was here, I caught up on work and raced through another coat of paint.  Let the girls play out front while I packed up some food for dinner.  Comforted Adara who was crying because Emily wouldn't let her walk near the road, and wrangled the girls into the car.

At 4:45 I found myself driving to the doctor, feeding the girls PB&J sandwiches in the car since we'd be there during dinnertime, alternately helping Emily sound out words in her Dora book and singing Old McDonald had a farm with Adara, listening to voicemails for work, and debating whether I had time to stop for gas.  (I decided the gas light had only been on for 10 miles, so it wasn't critical.)  

It was one of those moments that are so typical of this phase of life.  I realized that on another day I could have been frazzled and stressed, but for some reason (probably because the sun was shining and at 58* it was warm enough to have the car windows cracked open!), today it just made me smile.   Our life is busy and full, and so blessed!

[End of the story for the record: the doctor couldn't get the styrofoam out with his fancy tweezers - which made me feel less dumb for bringing her in! - and irrigated her ears. The girls had fun.  We got gas on the way home, only 20 miles after the empty light had come on.:)  Played on the swings & watched A shoot baskets in the driveway. Finished dinner and rushed to get the kids to bed & kitchen clean before A's men's group arrived.  Made a mental note to deal with the ants in the dining room.  Spent the evening painting trim and listening to the Red Sox on the radio.]