Curveballs

I should have known today would be a hectic day from the moment I backed up out of the driveway to a street filled with debris, branches and everything in-between from the storm that dumped a gob of rain just about everywhere. It looked like God went around and shook every single tree, limb and bush and dumped it all on the streets for car tires to bumpily drive on in the wee morning hours. About three minutes into my morning commute, sprinkles started to come down on the windshield, and I thought to myself, "If I have to get the kids out of the car, and then haul the stuff to the Capitol, I should have grabbed my darn rain jacket." So I turned the car around, and the kids didn't even blink an eye. Five minutes from when I left the house originally at 6:47 a.m., I was in the garage again, rushing out of the car to get in the house to grab the jacket. By the time I was back on the road, I thought to myself, "I can do this, and the kids won't even be late." As I pulled into the daycare's parking lot, I noticed the usual early birds there, ready to drop off their kids and start their day...I thought it was a bit odd that only one of the classrooms was lit, and the rest of the building looked quite dim. By the time the clock read 7:15 a.m., I started to get out of the car to haul the kids in. At the corner of my eye, and within ear range, I hear the daycare's director peek out and say that the school had no power and she wasn't sure if she could keep the kids at all today. POOP! My head starts to panic and I hurriedly put Roo back in her carseat. Of course, she's asking "what's going on mommy?" I picked up the phone to call the hubby and explained the situation. He quickly got off the phone and got ready to come get the kids. I dropped them off, and rushed on to work. This of all days was not a day to miss work. The weather for the Capitol event was frigid and hauling the stuff to our tables seemed like it took forever. And by the time I got back to the car to head into the office, my hubby had called to tell me that he was on his way to pick up our kids. He would miss a day of work to take care of them, and I would be working all day. Today was certainly a curveball. I certainly appreciated the fact that at any moment, my hubby was ready to step in and do what was necessary. Having the kids all day, unplanned, can be quite challenging. I am a planner and I am awful at curveballs. I can readily admit that as a vice. It's not very often that I have the bat in hand ready to swing at whatever life has waiting for me. That's why I'm absolutely grateful for all of my team members who are out there looking for my best interests and lifting me up when I need an extra hand. I guess it's true what they say, "There's no 'I' in team."

Just to be close

The other week, I dropped off the kids at school, like I normally do, and realized that my daughter was starting to get embarassed when I would fuss over her. Hugs, kisses and the like, and she didn't seem to want any of it. At some point, my daughter decided it wasn't cool to have those public displays of affection, and for that fleeting moment, I was utterly sad. The moments that I had with hugging her and giving her all the love and attention had passed on by. Nowadays, I'm lucky to just be able to sit with her and be close enough without her going on to do something else. As you can imagine, the attention span of a very young child is about as long as a mili-second! When I do get a chance, I hug her that much longer and tell her that I love her. She will always surprise me with her matter-of-fact quips, "Well actually mommy, I love you!" That's all it takes for me, and I'll be looking for those moments - whenever they come.