Don’t you love those Mondays when you hit the ground running, totally organized, motivated and ready to start the week? I had the opposite of that this morning. Now as the dust has settled, I’m stealing a few moments for a bit of poolside pondering.
While I feel a near desperate need for productivity and routine, it seems that life, or more specifically, toddler-hood continues to conspire against me. This morning, I woke to the crankiest boy in the world. Screaming (primal) was his mode of communication. Kung-Fu took the place of cuddles (my bad, I let him watch Kung-Fu Panda, and now nobody is safe). True, his molars are coming in. True he thinks it’s bullshit that his sisters get to stay home while he has to go to daycare three days a week. Still, what happened to my sweet little baby?
He refused to get dressed. He refused to eat breakfast. We started to run so far behind that I had to take him along to our vet appointment. This was a delight, of course, and by the time we were done he was happy to roll into his class and share his adventure with “the friends”. I got home wondering what the rest of the day would hold in store.
So far, so good. I finished my final draft of the non-fiction book I’m working on. I managed to write this post. I’m currently acting as a lifeguard to my daughters and their friend who are splashing in the pool. Soon I will vacuum our house. My to-do list continues to get done, when I allow for some breathing space, some deviation from “the plan” rather than getting all wound up. When I tune into the needs of my children, who need at least one of us parents to be nearby while they eat up the lazy days of summer, I can still have my own little bit of productivity.
Lucky for me, I get to be their front line. I get to work poolside with a happy puppy snoring at my feet, paws wrapped around the bone she’s buried and dug up about five times now. I’m so grateful for our three-parent life, all of us working together to make our days full and happy. I’m so grateful for this new home, which will keep our children and their friends amused all summer.
How has your Monday surprised you?