Summer

After a seemingly endless winter, my thoughts have turned to summer.

As I mentioned before, our daycare provider had thyroid cancer and had to undergo radiation, so The Bean was home with me and Sprout for a while.  Things went well.  Much better than I expected them to, to be honest.  I figured out a schedule that seemed to work for all of us.  We also had a few visits and trips that broke things up.  It got Jen and I thinking about daycare and my job situation and what really made sense.  Having both kids home definitely helped out financially.  Looking at our budget, it didn't help out enough to make the situation a completely permanent one, but it opened up some discussion to the possibility of me looking for other types of work.  Namely evenings and/or weekends.  Just enough to make ends meet.  We hadn't really decided that that was what we were going to do, but we talked about taking the summer to figure things out.  Only, we weren't sure how our daycare provider would feel about it.  So, when she came to us two weeks ago saying though now cancer-free she would like some additional time to recuperate, we were quick to agree to keep The Bean home for the summer.

And that's where we are now.  The Bean, Sprout and I have until September to hang out and figure things out.  So far we've been having fun.  It is BUSY.  The apartment is an even bigger mess than usual.  Chores and errands are far more difficult to complete. But I think we're all pretty happy to have this time together.  

There's no way I will ever regret getting to spend time with my kids while they are young.  I miss teaching fiercely.  I miss being around other adults and having actual conversations.  But this time to watch as these kids figure out their way in the world?  It's a gift.  Sprout adds new words to her vocabulary daily.  She is a joker.  She adores her brother and gives him the sweetest kisses before his nap, even if he wipes them off, complaining that they are too wet.  And The Bean?  He has boundless energy, except after naps when he just wants to snuggle.  He tries very hard to assert his will, sometimes frustratingly through yelling and throwing tantrums, other times with surprisingly compelling or hilarious arguments.  He makes up songs and stories which I really should be writing down.  He loves the outdoors and is currently enamored with the dandelions growing on our front lawn.  He has told everyone we've come across the past two days about them and ever so sweetly has extended the invitation to "come over any time and you can pick some" to many people.  Yesterday, when I put him to bed, he told me "I love you my sweetheart."  So far three seems to be an age of extremes, but I am still glad to have the opportunity to experience this three-ness while it lasts.  

So that's where we are: messy house, tired mama, long to-do list, but a pretty happy family overall.  If it seems quite around here it's probably because we're out picking dandelions.  Feel free to come over and join us though.