One Lovely Day

Some days homeschooling and raising four children ages six and under is so challenging that I reach deep inside to use all my virtues (which I hope are ever increasing) and I still fail (and fail and fail again). Other days are just glorious and I realize how much I will miss these days when they are gone. Days like today are so lovely that I shudder to think about when I won't have little ones around me.

John has finished most of his school texts for the year, so I am coming up with new work for him to do, just to fill about an hour of school work each morning in order to keep our structure. In a few weeks, we will officially end his Kindergarten year. After his school time, we have the whole day ahead of us! The weather is glorious and springy, not hot or muggy yet.

This morning we went for a walk to "the circle," which is the cul-de-sac a few houses down the street. I was reminded of the first walk I went on with more than one mobile child: John was likely three-and-a-half and Mary eighteen months, and I was Tense with a capital T! I was so distressed at them being outside of my immediate control and safety, the two of them walking on their own and almost assuredly to be mowed down by a car, I was a barking, shrieking, shouting mess as we took our not-so-pleasant walk around the block. What the passers-by must have thought of me! I came home a shaking mess.

Now I can take three kiddos on a walk plus wear the baby on my back and feel quite relaxed! Let's hope the trend continues.

I pushed Margaret in the stroller and you can see John and Mary far ahead on their bikes.

The cul-de-sac is wonderful because there is a giant woodsy "island" in the middle. I stand at the neck of the cul-de-sac and the children have free reign of quite a large area, which gives them a grand sense of freedom.

The two-year-old feeling independent as she zooms around the cul-de-sac,
seemingly so far away from Mommy but really entirely guarded.

After lunch and Quiet Time, we enjoyed our afternoon snack on a picnic blanket in the back yard: herbal iced tea with homemade pumpkin muffins topped with a dollop of whipped cream. We read "My Father's Dragon" while eating and then the children swang on swings, climbed ropes, and tromped in the woods.

This is my life! I get to live it! How blessed am I?

I was sitting in a comfortable lawn chair, reading a book, holding my sweet baby, when Mary ran up to me beaming with the announcement, "I've found something that hops!"

The first frog discovered in our yard in the five years we've lived here: Is it a Pine Woods Treefrog (Hyla femoralis)?

Sharing the amphibian

I thought that Mary had deposited the frog back on the plant where she found him, so I was talking to my neighbor over the fence, when I glanced back and saw suspicious activity. Upon questioning (read: shouting and running across the yard), Mary defended herself, "I'm just giving him a bath!"

Yes, folks, she was giving him a bath in our cups of iced tea. 

We hope the frog was none the worse for wear and we set him free again.

* * * * * 

The day even ended well! At 5:30 as I was washing dishes from dinner (yes, we eat early!), Margaret (25 months) approached me and announced, "Mama, I'm tired."

Turning off the water . . . "What did you say?"

"I'm tired."

"Well, do you want to go to bed?"

"Yes."

You don't have to ask this mama twice! The children have been way off their sleep routines for six weeks now due to a month of illness, then travel to the grandparents, then having workers in the house doing renovations. Last night Margaret cried for an hour and a half at bedtime (yes, despite our comforting her), which was so dreadful that today I assigned Mary to play with her during Quiet Time instead of allowing Margaret to nap. My plan worked to tire her out and Margaret was sound asleep by 6:00 p.m., taking an entire five quiet minutes to fall asleep. How dreamy!

* * * * *

As I was thinking back on this wonderful day and I felt so utterly relaxed, I thought that nothing bad must have happened, no challenges, a seemingly "magical" day. Then I remembered there were at least a couple of tantrums, one extended, several time-outs, numerous sibling fights including two which ended in one hitting the other with a projectile, today was Day 4 of full-time potty training Margaret (and you know how demanding that is!), and I was kept hopping most of the day, seeming to sit down only to have yet another child need me moments later. Yet on this day, I handled it calmly and charitably all day long. On other days I react with stress, tears, and anger. What is the difference? And how can I have more days when I react like I did on this day and not the way I do on the rough days? That is the question!