My Favorite Job

I had a wonderful last few days doing my favorite job - being mom. My husband went to Las Vegas solo for a wedding and I spent four glorious days with some of my very favorite people - my kids.
 
Now there were several challenges awaiting me. First up, on Friday night was the school’s Halloween bash. It involved getting four kids into Halloween costumes (and coming up with one of my own that would allow me to wear the baby backpack carrier), feeding them, and making it out the door in time to stand in a series of ridiculously long lines in a hot, crowded school. During the first 30 minutes, I seriously regretted this excursion but by the time I had secured snacks for all the kids and made it to the gymnasium for the dance party, things were much improved. I was able to do the Hamster Dance with three kids simultaneously with the fourth strapped to my back. My toddler, who - it must be said - is a dancing fool, got his groove on in the gymnasium to Lady Gaga with strobe lights flashing in the background. I even won one of the raffles and now have a coupon for a free milkshake from a local ice cream place.

Quick on the heels of that successful outing, I loaded all four kids into the car on a rainy Saturday morning to drive around picking up food donations for a community service project. After finishing more quickly than we anticipated, we headed to the mall for shopping and lunch. Okay, that was a little crazy since I hadn’t brought along anyone’s raincoat and it was pouring. Nevertheless, I was able to fashion rain gear out of a dry cleaner’s bag and an extra jacket I had in the car and we got into the mall just slightly damp. We had a (mostly) uneventful shopping trip and I was able to satisfy everyone’s culinary desires in the food court before heading back home.
 
Sunday was a day spent inside - besides hosting a play date, we laid low. Yesterday was back to school for the kids and aside from one child who needed to be picked up because of a sore throat, it went splendidly - including tennis lessons in the afternoon, dinner, and bedtime.

I was truly exhausted by the time I made it to bed last night but had a great time getting to that place. It was immensely satisfying to spend the time taking care of and enjoying my children. Some mornings I am glad to get out of the house (with screaming and chaos erupting in the background) to go to work. This morning wasn’t one of them and I found myself wishing for just one more day at home.