Nearly Perfect...

Today I had one of those days that made me remember why I LOVE being a mom so much! I will be honest...there are days that make it hard to remember that I do love it. Not many, but sometimes. Some days I want to run away. I have admittedly locked myself in my room for a little bit before. Not my proudest moment, but it has happened... Not a lot, but it has.
But, today was nearly perfect. So, just to help me remember how great it can be on those hard days, I wanted to jot it down. We didn't do anything super fun....Actually, we barely even left the house! Yet, it was a great day!
It didn't start out great though. Rylee threw a tantrum last night at bedtime. She has been having a hard time sleeping in her own bed. She insisted on sleeping in our room. I finally gave in, but not before she woke up Avery who had been asleep for about 20 minutes or so. Then, Avery would NOT go back to sleep! I tried everything! Letting her cry, holding her, laying by her in my bed....nothing worked! She finally crashed around 1 am and then she was up bright and early at 6:30 and she was GROUCHY! I tried to get her back to sleep, but she wasn't having it. So, I planned on a REALLY long day with a super grouchy baby! But, I was wrong....
I don't know why it was so special. It wasn't anything spectacular. Maybe it was just so happy that no one is pooping and the salmonella is gone from our house after almost 2 weeks. But it seemed like more than that. I always have this picture in my head of how our days should go. It includes lots of playing together and reading time and snack time and structure....It never really seems to turn out that way. But today...it did!
We started off the morning with some chores. I was able to get lots accomplished and the kids were very helpful. We tackled the toy room all together and it was great. They worked hard and enjoyed it, if that is possible. I love when we work together! Then, we played outside for a bit and played with our daddy. After lunch, we had reading time. We read one of Ry's books and a chapter of Harry Potter 2, which Logan is SO into! I love how excited he gets and that reading is so fun to him! Avery fell asleep on my lap while we were reading. That never happens anymore. After I put her in bed, Logan played one game of Lego Star Wars (which he turned off without complaining!) and me and Rylee built a few towers with Lincoln Logs (she thrives on one-on-one attention!) Then, Logan and Rylee played together....without fighting! They used their imaginations! It was the best! They played something with pirates and then some Harry Potter. I got some more cleaning done. Avery got a good nap. When Avery woke up, we had a snack. Then we played outside. We were outside for a good 2 hours or longer. Our time outside had all the things that make me love summer - Swinging, sliding, playing some soccer or "ball" as Avery calls it, a nice walk with a visit with a few friends, bike riding, side walk chalk, Follow the Leader, leapfrog, all varieties of Tag...or at least my children's version of Tag - They came up with something called "Party Tag" which they said is all the kinds of tag together....there is usually more than one person "it" so I don't know how that works - a little "Bubblegum, bubblegum" in a dish action, Logan wanted to play "track" which was racing around the house, laying in the grass, finding cloud animals (which Logan pointed out some clouds were actually "jet streams...") and we finished the day with Popsicles! All that was missing was swimming or sprinklers or maybe a little BBQ or a fire in the firepit. The kids took baths and my sister called. They took were taking turns talking to her and she is babysitting this week. The little boy talked to Avery and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. She kept saying "baby" and laughing so hard and then the other kids would laugh and soon we were all laughing. Harder than I have for a LONG time. It was awesome! Then the kids went to bed really well, after we played a little game of Quidditch in the toy room....
Like I said, nothing really special, but it just felt like magic to me! I think it finally felt like summer had arrived. And I remembered how much I missed my Log when he is at school. Next year will be tough when is gone all day! But, for now...I want more of these lazy summer days!
Don't get me wrong - We had a few major meltdowns, a few fights and I probably did yell in there a time or two. And...I fed them Mac N Cheese and Chicken Nuggets for dinner since Darren wasn't home, which probably isn't the greatest dinner to give your kids... It wasn't perfect...but nearly. I wish I had a picture to capture our perfect day. I didn't even get out my camera. I was too busy having fun. I don't think I could have captured it anyway. Hopefully, these words will do.
I don't know why more days don't go like this. Sometimes I am just not patient enough. Some days I am too preoccupied with my projects or am on the phone too much. Some days I don't "play" enough and enjoy them and am too worried about MY "to do" list. Some days I don't live in the moment enough. Some days I just want a break. I am working on these things and today made me remember why I want to fix them. The only thing that could have made my day better was a little more Daddy time, but then I don't know if I would have shared such special time with the kids. Sometimes they need a "fun" mom, not just the mom who makes them do chores and feeds them dinner.
As we sat down to dinner, I heard something that melted my heart. It made my whole day...and maybe even my year...or my life! Logan was talking to Rylee and he said, "We have the best mom in the whole world! Other kids say they have the best mom, but they don't know." It made me want to try harder. It made me want to live up to that. It made me happy. It made me cry! And feel a tiny bit guilty...but mostly inspired! I love my kids. They ARE perfect! At least for me.