I Love My Life

Thursday the alarm clock woke up at my usual 6:00am. I leave the alarm in our bathroom, so I'm forced to get out of bed. I stumbled to the clatter to turn the nuisance off. I surprised myself as I stumbled my way back to bed. I enjoyed fifteen minutes of soft sheets and warm blankets.

I knew I had to change the sheets, do about five loads of laundry, and do the usual school with the three children. I think my fifteen minutes of indulgence set my me off for quite a day.

I am usually a girl set on a schedule and do little to teeter from it. It just works for me. However, this morning I had a load of energy and adrenaline pumping under my skin and an urge for rebellion. I cancelled school for the day! I talked to a friend for an hour in the morning while Kaeley and Nathan redecorated the living room into a pirate ship. After I forced them to clean up the disaster or walk the plank we went to the Dollar Tree for birthday cards and a birthday gift. While we were there Kaeley fell in love with a new coloring book, which has since then given her great pleasure. Nathan was going to pick out a coloring book, too, but he found a three foot long rubber snake that was just waiting for him.

Talk about joy. Seeing that loud little boy walking around with a rubber snake my heart swell with happiness. I had no idea little boys were so much fun.

After that we went to the library for a whole new slew of library books.

We had lunch, quiet time, and after I had started my laundry I began reading Ramona, Age 8 aloud to Kaeley. After every chapter I would ask her if she was done or if she wanted me to read another chapter. Needless to say, I read out loud, on and off between laundry and waking up little children, from 2:30pm until almost 5:00pm! I read out loud until my throat was scratchy! But how can you resist Ramona who accidentally cracks a raw egg on her head thinking that it's a hard-boiled?

Around 5:15pm, my mother-in-law picked up the kids. The house was littered with clean clothes that still needed to folded. But you know what, I was very happy. I was happy with my life. I was proud of myself for following the lead of cancelling formal school for a day of smelling the roses, or, as it happened, taking time to smell the musty pages of library books. And rubber snakes. One can never forget the rubber snake.