Nice to see you again.
During the summer the girls are going to daycare three days a week and staying home with me two days. This is partly to take advantage of a quieter schedule, partly because that schedule comes with a significant lack of pay, and partly because in the chaos of the past year I feel like we have not spent very much time relaxing and enjoying ourselves as a family. This summer schedule forces me to not work or be productive a few days a week, which is somehow translating to me not feeling as guilty for the times when I am not doing work. Because now I am clearly not supposed to do work all of the time, which makes it ok (in my head, at least, which is really the only place that matters).
So we have been playing more, wandering more, enjoying ourselves a little bit more. This morning I took the girls to the bookstore and we wandered the bargain books and childrens section for a while. Actually, Mariel and I wandered, Noella ran around, took everything she could get her hands on off of shelves, chose some books to carry around while yelling "BOOH!", took her shoes and socks off, picked out five stuffed lions to carry in her arms, and said "hi" to everyone in the store. For some reason they did not kick us out and we left with some workbooks for Mariel to practice letters and a new book that came with a special ballet slipper neclace. Yes, it was probably made in China (and she has been forbidden to put it near her mouth), will probably break or be lost in a few days, but it has made her very, very happy. It has been a good day, with happy kids in good moods and with (relatively) good behavior. I think it is good for all of us to see each other again like this...
