Today's Jackpot

I know that it's not always this way. There is frustration and annoyance and overwhelming feelings of hair-pulling-out -- especially if you've had 192838 snow days like those in the middle of Snowpalooza 2015 east of here. But today was the first day off of a long weekend for my kids, which means all three girls were home today, and for me, who had plenty of time to mentally prepare and lineup moral support and not be stuck in our house because of more snow, well, it felt really good.

I was hoping to spend a little extra time sleeping this morning since there was no need to get my first-grader out and on the bus, but my almost-eight-month-old had other plans. Instead of falling back to sleep after nursing this morning she spent an hour babbling and poking my face and giggling and pulling my hair. There was a moment or two, as my body protested with waking, that I felt a little put off, but as I slowly adjusted to the idea of consciousness, I realized our "early" morning could be put to good use. A trip to the donut shop for breakfast.

On our way to meet friends (that prescheduled play date I mentioned), we stopped at a new-to-us bakery where Hope devoured nine donut holes, Paige nibbled at the frosting on her cake donut, and both girls drank a juice that had zero percent fruit juice, one hundred percent artificial dye, and one thousand percent of the daily serving recommendation for sugar.

Then they ran it all out of their systems at the indoor park where we met our friends. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did -- Hope running off to climb and explore but keeping me (mostly) in sight, Paige bopping back and forth between the closest play structure and the seat next to me, and Nora who was happy to rotate between my lap, the ground, and the arms of my friend.

Our play date was extended to a late lunch, and then (apparently I'm a high rolling gambler) I decided that after a full day out I might as well roll the dice one more time and run a quick errand before going home. While I didn't quite hit the jackpot, I also didn't have to fold either. We squeaked out of the store just in time to avoid a meltdown by two of the three. (The oldest and the youngest, in fact.)

By the time we got home I decided that I wanted to simultaneously crawl into bed at six o'clock for the night and get out of the house by myself and do something. Oddly enough (but not really) I did neither, which worked out okay too because I got to tuck all three of my girls in for bed.

Sometimes these days fall together just so, not because of anything I'm doing or not doing, but because they just do. I am fully aware that this day could've gone a completely different way. But I'm going to be thankful for the fun we had, the memories we made, and hope with all my might that my kids don't expect something equally ambitious on Monday, when they don't have school, again. I'll also send up a little prayer that I still have energy (and patience) left in my tank by then.

I joke about it, but really I know, today was a good day. We hit the jackpot with everyone cooperating and getting along and no major meltdowns or diaper explosions. It was as close to the perfect start to the weekend as it can get.

Now all I need to round out the perfection is to sleep in tomorrow.... (Nora, I'm looking at you.)

xoxo, christine