I didn’t really feel like going.
I’m a tropical creature. What’s so bad about staying inside all weekend? Or all winter?
Saturday was a hard day. The kids seemed to have more energy than usual and I had no patience for it. They were bored and I was tired. They made a lot of mess and they fought with each other and I yelled. A lot. Then I dropped 2 full cups of milk in the kitchen and had no-one to be mad at about it but myself. Everyone was generally not happy.
I felt really badly about the kind of mom that I had been so I went to bed on Saturday determined not to have a repeat of that on Sunday. I wanted a do-over.
When we woke up on Sunday, I told the boys that I was sorry for being so disagreeable the day before. I told them that I didn’t like to yell at them and that I wanted us all to have a good day. They asked to do something fun – which basically meant anything but spend all day inside again.
So, even though I didn’t really feel like going … We donned under shirts and long sleeve t-shirts and hoodies and hats and gloves and thermal pants and sweat pants and warm shoes and jackets – and headed outside.
Only to find once we opened the door that it was almost 60 degrees and we were very much over dressed. Guess I should’ve checked the weather report. I dunno why I had assumed it was so cold.
In the car, we each shed 2 layers of clothes and made our way to the park where we proceeded to have a really great time!
The kids played on the play structures, then we went to the field where lots of leaves had fallen and they ran around playing in the leaves. Then we found a tree that they climbed and were joined by other boys who saw them up there and decided it looked like fun. Then we played tag. I haven’t had so much playing tag [or “run down and catch” as Jamaican people call it :-)] in ages. Whenever I was “it” and got close to catching Ace he would drop down and play dead. It didn’t take Jay long to figure out that trick. It was all so much fun and so funny.
(they’ve been dead so long they’re already stiff … lol)
Just as I was about to run out of steam, we ran into a friend who has a son Ace’s age. They joined us at the park for a while and then we all went back to their house where the 2 moms had wine while the kids played video games and played with the dog.
Once we got home, almost 5 hours later, my boys took a bath, had dinner, Ace did his homework, we read a new book and watched some TV until it was bed time.
Just before falling asleep, Ace told me, “Mom, today was a good day. I’m happy.”
Days like Saturday will happen, but the bounce back was most definitely a 2 thumbs way up kinda day and it may not have happened had Saturday not been so awful and had I not been determined to make it up to my boys.
Life On The B Side 