An Ordinary Day (subtitled: I could get used to this...)

Nat is in Chicago this weekend, presenting at the annual NAPS conference.   (For those not in the know, that is the National A-something Patristics Society.  They all study dead guys who did religious stuff centuries ago.  But I just LOVE that the mysterious acronym spells NAPS.  Because a conference all about napping?  That would rule.)

So anyways.  Someone had to take care of the kids today in his absence, and I stepped in to do the job.  Thank you, personal day.

I could get used to days like this.

I'd looked forward to sleeping in til the decadent hour of 7:30 but my well-trained body had me up at 6.  No matter, I enjoyed the quiet of the house as the sun rose over our startlingly green front lawn until my boy came down at 7 and we snuggled and watched an episode of Batman.  Because why not?  I don't get to do this every day....

A successful morning routine ensued, delivering Jack and his friend to school on time, returning books at the library, and stopping for a coffee date with my girl on the way home...

All before 10am!

Ivy and I continued our "Mommy Ivy" day with a trip to the JCC where my little girl swam her heart out for 45 minutes before inhaling her lunch and playing some more in the playroom.  It was nice to be with just one child, able to focus on her completely in the absence of sibling rivalry and competition for my attention.

This girl of mine?  It turns out she's a delight.

On the way home we stopped to get the car washed and then shop at Trader Joes.  The weather only got better all day and it was a divine afternoon to walk around Eton Place.  Which is good because we had to park about 7 miles from the store.  Apparently everyone else thought it was a great afternoon to shop, too...

Home by 2:00 for a popsicle break in the backyard...

... and some relaxation before walking to school to pick up the boy.  We stood around with the other moms watching the kids clamber on the playground, the warm sun bouncing off the brilliant green leaves and landing, deliciously, on our shoulders.

Definitely one of those "I love where I live" moments.  And an "I really feel like a MOM" moment, too.  I mean, I always feel like a mom.  It's a defining aspect of my life.  But for those 5 minutes I got to be the archetype of a capital-M MOM, standing in a cluster with mom-friends, little siblings coming and going, swinging up a child into my arms without breaking conversation, talking about the PTA and cooing to the 6-week old baby in the arms of a friend.  What with that magical sunshine shimming over us all, I felt like I'd stepped out of some sickeningly-sweet blog post about the joys of motherhood or something....

oh, wait.

Anyways.  It was neat.

We walked home (well, I walked while my children balanced on wheeled conveyances) through Cumberland Park because why not play at two different playgrounds in one 30 minute period....

Then joined up with Gram Sarah to head to the end-of-year picnic at St Paul's.  I can't believe my baby is done with her first year of preschool.  And I can't believe my son was ever small enough to go there...  He was a giant among preschoolers and I think, felt a bit out of place-- but it was all OK because there was pizza and the ice cream truck came....

Here we are all waiting in line...

 ... and enjoying treats that promptly turned all the children into brightly colored, sticky, happy messes.

It was an ordinary day.  I did nothing today that hundreds, thousands of other moms (and dads) don't do every day, without batting an eye. Some might call the events of today routine, boring even.

But for this mom-- it was an extraordinary day, an escape from my own routine and a chance to play-act at a totally different take on the role of Mom.  My day as a SAHM was a vacation for me, I'll be the first to admit.  My experience of full-time childcare today can be compared to a stay at a vacation house.  Of COURSE you love the house and its perfect and you want to move there-- because if you moved there you'd always be on vacation, right?  I know that the reality of day-to-day childcare likely bears little resemblance to this day spent meandering in the sunshine, lavishing treats  and attention on my children.  For instance, I thought I was doing pretty darn well by having the dishes put away and two loads of laundry folded by the end of the day.  I didn't even try to accomplish anything else.  And I didn't have to cook dinner for anyone.  So please, please don't think I am making my one nice little day into some golden, shining example of how all SAHM's should live their lives and feel about their days.

But.... I'm still going to say it.  I could get used to this.