Skip to content


The Best Laid Plans

I’m up and dressed right down to my shoes.

IMG_2523

Even my toes are ready to go (Thanks, B!!). Jack’s well and off to school with dad (love you baby!!). Tom and Will are picking out which toys to take to show and tell. And Sam is…vomiting up his breakfast. But he says he feels fine now and actually wants to finish his breakfast. Seriously?

Okay fine. Change of clothes, change of plans. Sam will stay home with me today, but I can still run a couple of essential errands with him in tow as long has he doesn’t get sick again–Oh, no! Not again! Change of clothes, change of plans. Let’s just get Tom and Will to school and regroup. Sam loses his pedialyte but smiles proudly as he’s managed to aim it all into a nearby trash bin.

We manage to get the others to pre-school, trash bin held under Sam’s chin the whole way. Back at home, he informs me that he will be sleeping in my bed, and is out just as soon as hits head his the pillow. I’m disappointed. I’m frustrated. It’s been a solid week of sickness at our house and I’m tired, lonely and sick of these four walls. I work on these while Sam naps.

IMG_2530

And conclude that two-at-a-time, toe-up, magic loop is my winning sock combination (Although, I’m going to have to do a provisional cast on next time, so I can still have my kitchener-ed toe. Figure 8 is too obvious.) Feeling a bit calmer, I throw in another load of laundry, and talk on the phone with my mother for a half hour.

She tells me the elementary school bus has been stopping in front of her house every morning and afternoon. Apparently the driver is a bit confused about his new route, as no children get on or off there anymore. Mamma says she can’t help but go to the door every time he stops.

“I don’t think they’re going to give you a free kid, mom,” I tease.

I hear her smile as she says, a little wistfully, “Well…I keep hoping.”

We chat a little more. And I hang up wondering how she knew to call at just the right time. Sam wakes up and thinks he might like some toast. Two pieces. One with grape jelly and one with strawberry.

I sit beside him and drink a cup of coffee as he methodically devours his snack, making full use of teeth and tongue in a manner that won’t be acceptable much longer. But I decide to overlook it today. He watches the squirrels play in the trees outside the window. And while he’s turned, I examine the whoosh and swoop of his hair. It circles his head like a whirlpool, then springs up to a fountain of spikes at the crown. Wet or dry, it never lies flat. I wonder if I’ll remember what his little boy hair looked like when he’s grown, and briefly contemplate taking a picture of the back of his head.

But then his attention turns from the squirrels, and I’m caught up in a conversation about Spiderman and whether Wolverine would be his best ally in a fight. Other topics are batted around. And we conclude definitively that lemonade is good. I reach out and stroke his cheek and rub his ear between my thumb and forefinger. It tickles, and we smile.

Not what I had planned. But important things happened this morning. Blessed wonderful things. And now that I think about it…my errands weren’t that important anyway.

Posted in Family & Relationships, Kids, Parenting.


5 Responses

Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.

  1. B says

    Poetic. You always have just the right words, regardless of what hand you’re dealt…… you inspire me!

  2. Kimmy says

    Ditto B….. and lemonade is good.

  3. bells says

    it’s funny how things go – all that vomit and changing of clothes lead to something beautiful. Who knew!

  4. Kate says

    small moments of shared understanding are definitely treasures

  5. Christinia Sathre says

    Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any points or suggestions? Thank you



Some HTML is OK

or, reply to this post via trackback.