A Perfect Day

Today I had a perfect day with my children.

It's Sunday. Our helper Rachel was off for the day. Matt's still in Cambodia.

So I was at home with both my kids by myself (awesome).

It's Sunday, so I had no work to worry about and no places to go.

And I was down with a mini cold, so I didn't have a lot of extra energy left to be distracted by things I'd like to do on my off days, like baking or attempting another tome of Russian literature.(Though often time these things ended up being more stressful and time-consuming.)

And that's perfect.

Because I put all my attention and energy into being with my kids, and I loved every minute of it.

Luke and I played trains, both of us all-fours on the ground. We built the tracks together and Luke kept having great ideas for construction. Then we painted three mural-sized pictures - all sea-themed and with Luke's favorite creatures in them: sharks, swordfish, and crocodiles. We did all this in the morning while Petunia Patch (that's what Madison's called in our house) snoozed for a solid two hours.

For lunch, I made grilled cheese sandwiches served up with the juicy, ruby grapes Luke and I bought on Friday at the market. Petunia Patch woke after lunch (what perfect timing!) and I fed her while all three of us curled up on the counch to watch Luke's new favorite movie - The Adventures of Milo and Otis.* Then after the movie I put on Bob the Builder in Spanish for Luke (my feeble attempt to make my kid multilingual) while putting Petunia Patch down for second nap.

With one kid down, I tried to catch a little snooze while Luke played some more trains by himself, but baby wouldn't nap so we packed up and went over to our friends' house for our first Advent coffee afternoon. We sat on the porch, listened to Christmas carols, drank tea, and devoured a very delish German plum cake. The babies were happily crawling all over the place (our friends have a 1-year-old, also a little girl) and getting into their brothers' toys. Luke and his friend Flynn played with all things machinery, producing a lot of different engine sound effects as a backdrop for the symphonic movements of Christmas songs. We adults feasted and celebrated without care as all our little ones were reasonably occupied.

Back at home, Rachel was back in time for the high-traffic hour of bathtime and bedtime routines - THANK GOD! Madison went to bed at 7:30pm, and then Luke and I had story time in my bed, and I got to find out why Luke didn't want to go to school as we were cuddling. (This kid likes to spill the beans right before his bedtime. Somehow I think it smells strategic...) He fell asleep, smiling, in my arms, as I was finishing the story.

What a perfect day. I smiled and laughed a lot.


*A little imperfection of a perfect day: Luke spilled Milo (a malt chocolate drink) on our WHITE couch covers before we started the movie and I flew off the handle for a moment. I think I scared that little guy. For a couch cover. :( I apologized afterwards and Luke said, "I forgive you, mama." Oh, you are the best, buddy!