The Puddles

My sister asked me the other day when I finished telling her about our week last week, “When haven’t you had a busy week?”

To be honest, I think the last time we didn’t have to be somewhere every day of the week for one activity or another was when the kids were little.  Like before Ainsley was born. When it was just Madie, Ben, and I (pregnant with Ainsley), it wasn’t so bad.  That was about a one year period.  Since Ben had an early start, the first year was busy with adjustments.  Finally after Ben turned one, life started settling down (then we got pregnant again). Madie was in preschool. But she got picked up twice a week from our house and brought home every day.  I lived in shorts and sweats.  There was no where to go!  Of course, that was a time when I considered a good day to be that I actually got a shower before three o’clock in the afternoon.  A really good day was when I got to shower without children present. I remember thinking then that I couldn’t wait to get out of the stage where you love being with the children but crave adult conversation (none of the kids could really talk then so I spent a lot of hours by myself talking to . . . myself).  I thought those days would never end.

Now I wish some of those days were back.  I don’t mind that I have to go somewhere every single day, but some times wish for the few days of just being at home.  But now we are going to be gone at least four nights of week (Monday through Thursday) where dinner will have to planned out prior to the evening or we will be eating a lot of sandwiches or chicken nuggets with whatever vegetable I can find in the fridge to cut up and serve raw.  Not very creative.  The sad part is that it is only going to get busier.

Ben told me that he has been praying for boy scouts for years.  He gets to see Girl Scouts all the time for the girls, when will it be his turn?  This is what he tells me yesterday.  Boy, that makes a mom feel guilty.  I just need to make that phone call.  I am just dreading which night of the week that I am adding yet another item to my “to do” list.  But Ben has been waiting years to do it.  And he really wants to be a boy scout.  He is tired of wearing his “Brother of a Girl Scout” tshirt.  It is time for him to be his own.