My Day

Last night 6 great girlfriends and I went for a Mom's Night Out in Atlanta which included dinner and Wicked at the Fabulous Fox Theater. It was divine. From the lobster ravioli to the conversation to and from the theater--not to mention the incredible performance--we had a great time.

It even made up for the fact that as I loaded the children in the car for church yesterday morning I discovered Oreo, our cat, had been inadvertently locked in my car for 19 hours. Yes, she left some nice, aromatic treats behind to remind me of her presence! And, of course, as it always seems when these types of things happen, hubby was working long hours and the dirty work was my job. Yuck!

This morning the children bounded out of bed at their usual 6am wake-up time with gift bags they had hidden under their beds last night (with a little help from Daddy.) They were thrilled to present me with birthday gifts selected just for me (Ha! Ha!) CD collections of their favorite music. P chose 125 silly children's songs, R chose 200 Bible/Sunday School songs and K chose rock and roll from the 50s. I am now the proud owner of 9 new CDs selected by and for 4 year olds. We popped them in my laptop during breakfast and danced until we were almost late for school. We don't have dance parties very often--by when we do I am always mindful that I will treasure those memories. I wish we did them more often!

My mother-in-law drove in from Atlanta to join me for a morning at the school. I did my weekly volunteer duties while she went into each classroom and observed. The children were thrilled to have a special guest to themselves and Grandmother loved seeing how well they are thriving in their new environments.

We went out for an early lunch with my husband, then back to check the children out (pre-nap, to their delight!) We returned home for cake and then enjoyed a gorgeous Fall afternoon.


As I was snapping pictures this afternoon. I was reminded that one the reasons I love photography, is that it allows you to capture moments and expressions that you might otherwise miss. I realized that it also allows me to come back and as I upload look at my family through a different lens--one that is not so 'in the moment,' trying to manage and sort through the noise and the chaos, but rather more quiet and pensive.

My late afternoon was a train wreck. My husband got stuck in something very important that he simply could not avoid, causing him to miss birthday dinner. The children were very revved up from a day of excitement and birthday cake. I decided to make the most of a disappointing situation and take them to kids night at our favorite burrito place.

Suddenly, I found myself in one of those unfortunate parenting moments where, for the sake of consistency, I had to get our food wrapped up to go and leave as a punishment for out of control behavior. (One child completely on top of a table, one child pouring salt out then licking off a table and another running back and forth and diving between two booths--all happening simultaneously as I attempted to place our food order at a counter several yards away.)

I had really wanted to sip a Splenda-sweetened tea on the outside patio for the last few minutes of this gorgeous 68 degree, sunny day. Instead I was the villain in my children's eyes. I was hurt as the three of them ganged up on me on the way home about how I had 'huwt' their 'feew-ings' by not allowing them to stay and get a balloon from the clown. I felt like I was being punished as much or more than they were. I now understand the famous parental claim, 'this hurts me more than it hurts you' on several levels. It is hard to stand by your threats as a parent sometimes! (And for those of you with teenagers, yes, I realize this is only the beginning.)

Thankfully, my husband got home shortly after we did and allowed me to sneak away to a solitary corner for 30 minutes of quiet. I flipped through these pictures (and the first part of this post, written during rest time today) and regained my perspective. (I find this end of the day perspective to truly be a great gift of blogging.)

I was reminded how a day that had been idyllic crashed and burned so quickly--and how in the grand scheme of things my crash and burn paled in comparison to the crud other people are dealing with.

"It's not what you're looking at that matters, it's what you see." Henry David Thoreau

Ahh, perspective. It really does seem to always come back to that word.