Last week was one of “those weeks.” All major crises were averted, but nothing went particularly well either. Well that’s not exactly true, but enough plans were thwarted that it felt like a wash. Perhaps it was the fact that Olivia was in VBS all week and I got the idea that meant I’d be more productive because I’d be minus one child. Except that I was minus my helpful, mild-mannered child. And she had to be somewhere at 9 and picked up at noon. And because we were out to drop off & pick up Olivia, it seemed like a good excuse to finish off my list of errands to run before we head out of town again. And then there were the unusually large numbers of tantrums from the little sisters left in my care. It seems Violet is getting extra teeth and Molly isn’t getting enough sleep – what a fantastic combination! So every outing last week involved tears and every day provided a good dose of humility for Mama – from dropping my fancy new Android phone on the concrete, to diaper “issues”, to time management failures, to struggling to carry on a simple conversation, to my To Do list being the same length Friday at 4pm as it was Monday at 8am. After all of that, what really sounded good was meeting some other moms at Chuy’s for frozen margaritas & the all-you-can-eat nacho car. Happily, we had a great alternative to take advantage of – we met a new friend for a late afternoon playdate. She greeted us warmly, the girls immediately ran off to enjoy the company of their new friends and a house full of new toys. My new friend & I fell into easy, light-hearted conversation. By the time the visit ended, I was ready to let the week go and focus on making the best of the weekend. So here it is Sunday night and I am ready to give it all another try tomorrow morning. We’ve got a lot less on our calendar, we have no errands to run (one benefit of the craziness of last week!), and I am planning to spend a good chunk of time just reading books to the girls in the new reading corner JR finished up tonight. There will always be ups & downs in life with young children and it isn’t realistic for me to think we can make it through a week without a few mini-crises. But hopefully, I can learn to follow my girls’ lead and live in the moment, enjoy the simple things, and hold onto the good times.