Peaks and valleys. I hear that’s often what this “mom stuff” is. Today was rough and I can prove it with just a few highlights. I growled at the children. Literally a guttural snarl came out of my throat when Luke dumped an entire bottle of sand art into our bathroom sink and all over the bathroom floor while I was making lunch. Later, I watched Noah smack Luke in the back as hard as he could when Luke wouldn’t give up his swing to let Noah have a turn. When I sent him to a time out, he said he didn’t believe I loved him (dramatic eye roll). Gracie is teething. No more explanation is probably required for that one. So, yeah, just one of those days you want to fast forward and start fresh tomorrow.

I did my best to end it on a high note. I packed up the kids and took our next door neighbor Maddie with us to Dairy Queen after dinner. For some reason, she is Gracie’s talisman against the teething. Whenever she is around, Grace is all smiles and totally forgets that her bicuspids are trying to push through.

Things were starting to look better after that. Scott made popcorn for the boys as their bedtime snack which is always a big hit with Luke. And since Luke insists on helping (I think he actually knows how to work the air-popper better than I do), Noah told Luke that it was his best batch of popcorn. Luke smiled bashfully and then sat next to Noah which made me believe for about two minutes that they really might like each other.

After popcorn, we brushed their teeth and got them ready for bed. As I was tucking in Noah, he asked me how babies get into girls’ bellies. Sigh. We were so close to redeeming the day. So then I am spluttering out some evasive explanation about God putting the baby there. But he wasn’t satisfied with that. “But how does the BABY get in there, Mom?”

“Magic. Angels. It’s tough to explain. Get some sleep. I love you.”

UGH. I am so glad today is OVER.