Two Tuesdays

I had a rough day today.

Jacob is a busy boy, and I've really been enjoying him, but today we had a hard time working together. I have a few stressors I was focused on today, and it didn't help that I spent 2 1/2 hours this morning in the dentist's chair. It somehow seems wrong to pay for torture (not to mention one of our kids will now have to go to one less semester of college, since we don't have dental insurance!)

Things went from tough to outright miserable. So much so, that Rick came home from work early to rescue us all. He fed and bathed the kids so I could accomplish a few pressing tasks, and also get a break from all the crying that seems to surround the end of our day.

It's OK now. Tomorrow is a new day, and a fresh start. So, I'm going to remember last week, when we had an awesome day - even though it started off tough. Hopefully, I'll do better at turning tough days around (like I did last week), instead of melting down myself (like I did today.)

So here's last week -

On Tuesday's a group of my friends meet at the park to let the kids play, and get some good talking time in (very important for me.) I've missed the last few (dentist appointment, etc) but planned on going last week.

The back of our car won't stay open anymore, so I had it booked in that day. NO problem, since I was dropping of the car at 8am, and racing back to get the kids from the neighbors, I thought I'd have loads of time to get to the park by 10:30am. Of course, it took way longer to get the car checked in, and I was back later than I'd planned. Frustrated, but still OK for the park.

I got my other stuff done, and at 10:15, pulled out the Burley to load in the kids for the walk. Hmm, the front wheel was off, and I COULDN'T FOR THE LIFE OF ME figure out how to get it back on. Someone borrowed it some time back, and broke a few things on it - and I'm not sure if the wheel was one of them. After a maddening half an hour, I gave up on being able to transport both kids, and climbed back up the ladder to the dusty shelves in our garage and pulled out the jogger (sorry Jake, you're going to need to walk.) All 3 wheels on the jogger needed to be pumped up - so back into the garage for the pump. Then I realized Jane's diaper bag will not go under the jogger as easily as it will go in the back of the Burley!!!! I spent a few more minutes re-packing a new bag.

When I was finally ready to go, Jacob pitched a fit at not being able to ride. I raced into the house, and grabbed the backpack - for Jane. I tossed Jacob into the jogger, and took a deep breath. Was it really worth all this just to go to the stupid park? Off I headed, and got about 3 blocks from home, when I felt Jane's little head flopping to the side - she was falling asleep - dang it! The back pack is not conducive to quality sleep - so I stopped, took her off, wrenched Jacob out of the jogger and put her in. Another fit from Jacob (in the middle of the street) and he ended up in the backpack.

Hmm, you may be thinking? Isn't carrying at 36lb kid on your back while you walk 2 miles kind of against your knee-surgery rules??? The answer is YES! That is when I considered just going home. I was sweaty, dirty, and an hour late. Would anyone else even still be there? I was hating this day, and it wasn't even lunch time.

I decided to just press on. Well, we got to the park and Erin was there with Colin. Joy filled Jacob so much I thought he would burst. Jane was sound asleep in the jogger, and slept for 40 minutes after our arrival (a long nap, for her.) The park was empty, and we sat in the shade, ate lunch and chatted. Jacob played with Colin, and ran, and climbed and had great fun. Then we walked home. I flat out told Jacob he had to walk home - my knee couldn't take carrying him back. He was great about it (the play time made him too tired for any more fits.) Along the way we noticed all the leaves changing color (something we've been talking a lot about) and collected leaves for a leaf collage.

When we got home, our house was spotless (Irene comes on Tuesdays) and the air conditioning was on! We all hung out and watched "Blue's Clue's." THEN, I found out that I won a new backpack and $100 gift card to Land's End, from the contest on Design Mom. WOW! I love Land's End, and I never win stuff - so exciting.

After school Emily had a play date with her friend, Ella, and Rebekah got all her homework done before dinner. The Little's and I had a nice peaceful afternoon. Dinner and bath time was relatively smooth. When the younger 3 were in bed, Rick came home and we went to the gym together.

So, that day that started out looking like it would be miserable, turned out to be a really great day.