Lately Michael has been asking me to see “dinosaur pictures on the computer” Which means he wants to look at our dinosaur park adventure from last summer for the hundredth time. I love it. I didn’t see this added bonus of writing out our adventures until very recently… Suddenly both kids are all about looking at mommamuch to see where they have been and what they have done.
SO FUN.
So Monday was a day they will probably never forget, even if I didn’t put it here, but I’ll put it here anyway.
But first, this kid. He’s so loud I can hardly think. Thank goodness for B-vitamins and him being the cutest thing I have ever seen. After he’s done banging on the drums: “Mommy… clap!!!”
And these eyes… and her stickers for earrings. She told me recently “Mom I never want to get my ears pierced. It hurts too bad!” Fine by me, we’ll see how long that lasts. Her Grandmother Rogers never had her ears pierced!
So our Monday morning can be summed up in one picture:
Michael limping barefoot on the road with a scraped knee that he had been pampering for the past mile. I couldn’t even put him in the stroller because he “couldn’t” bend his knee. I don’t know what is about boys, but a skinned knee can knock them out for days. And the shoes… they made the horrible offense of having something in them, (a stick? A pebble? An imaginary twig??) Either way, they were tossed to the side for the remainder of our walk, leaving his cute little feet padding the hot pavement.
It was one of those mornings that tested my patience, and then tested it some more. And I’m doing Whole30 right now, which is amazing but Monday morning I wished I wasn’t on it so I could resort to some sort of comfort eating. Maybe a stop on our walk (I mean “hobble”) to the conveneince store for a… anything??
But my, it feels good when I somehow get through those moments and wake up the next morning still “on plan” and feeling better than ever! I’m loving what this diet is doing for my brain and skin and mood! Whole30 calls them “NSVs” (Non scale victories) and they are life changing.
But back to our Monday. I lost my keys, lost. And Brenden was out of town for work, for the whole week. As I looked for the keys (we looked for the keys, there was a lot of incentive on the kid’s part to find them too,) I fought back some serious anxiety about the thought of being stuck in the house all week with the kids. Was that even possible? All week? We had plenty of food; Whole30 complaint food even. Technically we could possibly stay all week, missing everything on our calendar without any serious consequences. We were already missing preschool and Brielle’s homeschool co-op that morning… Then I started to get hives. Can.not.do.this.
I somehow got my mind together and packed lunch and got the kids in walking shoes and out of their dress shoes (??) and pulled the stroller out of the laundry room, all with Remmy whining, take me too take me too. Time to go to ACAC, (our gym.) It’s exactly 2.3 miles from our house, and the long walk with two kids on a busy road was way more appealing to me than staying in the house one more minute.
As we were walking I made the call to the dealership: “Of course we can make a new key, bring it in.” Silence. I love being on the phone and having the equivalent of a monsoon around me. Sometimes it comes out in my voice, (frustrated, annoyed, hurried) sometimes I just internalize it because I realllllllly want to get the phone call completed, with the result I need. So internalized it. Brielle was whining that Michael had a longer turn in the stroller, handing me her water bottle, Michael was nursing his scrapped knee and looking like “you guys should just go on without me, I’m on my way out.. not much time left.” I said to the person on the other line: “We can’t bring it in, we don’t have keys.”
So the plan was made to send a tow truck, and a shuttle would come pick us up. “We get to ride in a bus!! Whee!” The mood was suddenly more optimistic, and the caravan (we were a sight, I assure you) was turned around and we headed home, away from ACAC.
Next scene: Me in the third row seat of a mini-van (not a bus at all, but the kids didn’t care because it was their first time in a van.) They were eating their packed lunch in their carseats, perched on the second row seats of the van. Is this even safe?? Who cares. And slowly, I am emptying the contents of my carry all because I think there’s a very large chance I’m about to puke. I never get car sick, but apparently I get back-of-van sick.
Half-way to the dealership the shuttle driver got a call from the tow truck guy… he had found my keys. Surely not. How is this possible. I couldn’t tell if I was relieved or annoyed?? I think I was both. So the driver took us past the dealership to pick up someone else who was waiting for a ride, way down a winding road. I was at the end of my rope, opening the tiny slits of windows on either sides of me. The kids were happy as clams. “Look at that, look at this! Bah blah blah!” In the end nothing gross happened (my carry all was spared) and we pulled into our driveway with a sleeping Michael.
The tow-truck driver was so pleased with himself, and rightly so. He had asked me when he arrived: “Did you check the inside of the car?” My sarcastic response, with a laugh, “Nope! I just called you!” Ahhhh. He had found them in-between the console and the driver’s seat. My precious keys.
This adventure set the tone for the rest of our week. It’s that feeling of being in a situation that you really don’t want to be in… and then suddenly you’re transported into a different situation. One that you don’t want to be in either, necessarily (single-momming it for the week) but it’s waaaay waaaay better than the first situation. We can go places. Perspective! Gratitude! Joy!
It’s these little adventures and highs and lows that make up all of our days. I thank God I have the blessing of counting this as “hectic/trying/chaotic” day. There are mothers all around the world whose “hectic/trying/chaotic” days look so so different.
Jesus, thank you for the subtle ways in which you teach me your patience and peace.
We ended the day at Panera – Is it just me or is it totally not fair the size discrepancy between a kid and his cookie?
And this. The hugs they share. <3
XOXO
