Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.

-Avett Brothers, ironically from a song called “Murdered in the City” that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. #TRUTH

Friday night Luke and I climbed into bed at about 9pm (yep, we’re ragers). We were exhausted from our first full week of school. I told him that the only thing I wanted to do on Saturday was stay in bed past 6am. I’m still feeding the baby at 10pm and again around 4am so I’m not getting great sleep. Plus, I like sleep.

Anyway, we talked about carpools and school drop off and pick up and eating dinner at 5:30pm and changing nap times and the new structure to our days. We weren’t complaining, just observing and putting a name to all of the changes in our world. The new routine isn’t a bad thing it just takes some getting used to. And I was tired from our first week of juggling it all.

That night Elle woke up, inconsolable at 11:30pm. Then Charlie Mac woke up at 12:30am with the sniffles, which has led to his first cold. He was the most pathetic little thing, up til 4am, confused and upset about this new unpleasant sensation. I got about 6 hours of sleep from 9:30pm until 9am, never more than 2 hours in a row. My Saturday plans weren’t going as I’d hoped.

But you know what? Saturday turned out to be a great day. And you know why? Because my family is awesome. Mostly, I’m the smartest lady ever because I chose the perfect mate. Seriously, he is home. He took care of the kids in the morning so I could stay in bed. When I got up grumpy and still tired, he let me be that way. He didn’t try to force or guilt trip me into being perky or happy. It’s rare that we have a weekend day together so we normally try to fill them with fun, busy activities. He didn’t suggest big plans for the day because he knew that I would not be up for that.  He took care of the kids so that I could nap. I woke up feeling so much better and beyond grateful for him.

We still had a fun day. In the morning, we took a golf cart ride over to the park. The kids played on the beach. I didn’t even get off the golf cart. After naps, we rode over to Pinckney Park (see last post) and the kids played on the playground. We came home, cooked dinner, had movie night, and put the kids to bed. It was a perfectly ordinary, wonderful day made possible by people who love each other. I saw all the moments that this day could have been awful … a too tired mama, multiple sick kids (all 6 of us have been sick this week, including one case of pink eye), unfulfilled expectations for fun since we were all home together. Instead it was a day that brought us closer together. We took care of one another. We truly SAW each other.

I can’t believe they’re mine. Grateful.

There is always a hand to hold around here.

My partner in crime, in sleepiness, in how the heck do we do this parenting thing???!!

Find another post about when your day doesn’t go as planned here.