But it didn't turn out that way. In fact, I had one of the best days I've had in quite a while. And I'm pretty sure the boys did too. It's amazing what a little calm thinking, showering the night before and Dollar Tree can do for a day.
After dropping Jack off at school, Reid and I hit up Starbucks for a little reassurance. We came back home and enjoyed our snack and played a bit. He really likes the cactus and the maracas.
I snapped that picture 2 seconds too late. He was using the maracas to dig around in the pebbles in the cactus pot.
If that picture doesn't say I love maracas, then I don't know what does!
Around 9 a.m., he went to sleep. And pretty easily at that. I was amazed! And he slept until 10:15. Wonderful. I didn't have to wake him up to pick up Jack. And while he was sleeping, I was able to get my chores done.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to be more organized/better at housekeeping. I'm using a schedule I found on Pinterest. Basically, one chore a day. It's working out nicely so far. Today was wash the mirrors and windows day. I got every mirror cleaned, and I tackled all of the finger-printed windows. There are way too many windows to clean all of them. That would take all day and make me crazy. Not part of the resolution.
I got two loads of laundry folded, and I even got a list together for the Dollar Tree. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a great resource of items you can buy at the Dollar Tree and how to play with them. More on that in a sec.
So Reid and I head off to pick up Jack. He had a good day at school. He even remembered what letter he is learning about. At this point, I start to think this day might be alright. But I stop myself; I didn't want to jinx it.
After a nice reminder call from my sister about getting my flu shot (it's pretty bad out there!), I decided there's no better time than now to stop at Walgreens. After reassuring Jack that he was not getting a shot today or anytime this week (and that I would help him hide so he didn't have to see), we made our way back to the Pharmacy, and I got my flu shot.
Now, I've accomplished my chores and a major to-do list item. I normally would have just called it quits there and been happy. But now I was on a roll. Off to the Dollar Tree.
The Pinterest inspiration listed 100 things (and even listed the aisle to find them!). I went in with a list of 25. We made our way through the aisles and found about half of the things on my list. I had a little scare here. Jack kinda likes the Dollar Tree. He likes to touch everything and run up and down the aisles. And if I don't respond quickly enough when he wants to show me something, he piles the things into his arms and brings them to me. Today, he laid out 4 or 5 puzzles in the middle of the aisle. Luckily, we got it back together pretty quickly, and he was still able to pick his one thing to buy.
Reid, meanwhile, was just as happy to sit in the back of the cart and attempt to stand up and remain standing when I turned corners. Yeah for the little things.
When we get home, the boys couldn't wait to play with some of our new finds. So I broke out the colanders and the pipe cleaners. They both played happily with these while I made lunch. Win!
I'll skip the boring details of lunch. Suffice it to say there's a lot of sitting and waiting for Jack to finish eating. Then we play a little, read a few books, and attempt naps.
This is where the day almost took a dark turn. Reid didn't eat much for lunch, but he was tired. So after books, I sent Jack to his room with an I Spy book and directions to stay in bed until I got there. I spent about 5 minutes getting Reid quieted down, and then laid him in the crib and left. He stayed quiet for about 15 minutes. I even thought he fell asleep.
Jack and I then read a couple of books. Then we closed our eyes in his bed. That's how I get him. He doesn't have to sleep, he just has to close his eyes for 45 minutes. Since 45 minutes is less than an hour, he doesn't think that's a long time. Winner! Except Reid starts crying. And then proceeds to cry for 30 minutes off and on. Luckily, I close my eyes and actually rest a little (not sleep mind you), and Jack actually falls asleep. While I was laying there, I kept thinking about worst case scenarios and how I would deal with them. I was ready for Jack not sleeping and Reid being a crying mess at the same time. Thank goodness I only had to deal with half of that scenario.
This is when I go rescue Reid, and we head back downstairs for a snack and some more play time. Luckily, the colander and pipe cleaner game is quite fun. We played that for a good 15 minutes before he decided it was time to head to the basement.
While Reid and I played Hot Wheels in the basement, Jack slept for an hour and a half. I woke him up at 3:30 as I didn't want to mess up bedtime. I had told Jack that if he kept his eyes closed for the full 45 minutes, that we'd play with the bubble wrap from Dollar Tree. So after a snack, that's just what we did. The boys liked jumping and walking on it to make it pop. Reid actually did this for a few minutes before trying to put the bubble wrap in his mouth. Amazing!
So after a little more pipe cleaner/colander action and some Sesame Street while I made dinner, the day ended fairly easily with a normal bed and bath routine.
I can't believe how much I accomplished as well as how much fun we had together today. This is definitely one of those days I am so grateful to be a stay-at-home mom.
I still hope they sleep in until at least 6 a.m. tomorrow. There's no way I can do this two days in a row!
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