One of those days

We all have them. Days when your patience is stretched to the max and by the end of the day, there is nothing left to stretch. Yesterday was certainly like that.

Sam and Lucy got in to a fight in the hallway over who was going to hold the jar of buttons. ( I know... really. A jar of buttons? Why buy toys when kids are so much more fascinated with buttons!) They screamed, and yelled, and Henry's normally three hour nap was shortened to a mere 45 minutes.

Then, Sam and Lucy decided that they were going to make a present for Mommy so they emptied several boxes of food, (trail mix, raisins, cherries, that sort of thing) all in to one bowl and brought it to me. (Don't worry. I was good and grateful and my sweet little four year olds had no idea how much extra work they were creating for me.)

Sleepy Henry wanted to be held all day, muddy feet left prints all over the rug I just washed, milk was spilled all over the floor I just mopped...

You know, each of these things when handled on an individual basis... not too stressful. But throw them all in to one afternoon, and well... by 5:45, I was done. I called the man of the house and asked told him to take the kids somewhere, anywhere, when he got home and feed them. Because he is an exceptional husband and father, his response was, "Say no more. I'll be home in a few minutes." When he got home, he loaded the kids in the car and took them to McDonalds and to the park.

I stood blissfully and wonderfully alone, spent a few moments thinking about how much I loved my husband and then took a 45 minute shower. There was no baby standing just inside the shower curtain. There were no miscellaneous sounds coming from the living room indicating some sort of trouble waiting from me when I was done. It was just me. That was nice.

After my extreme de-stressing session, I was able to think with a much clearer head. The happenings of the day seemed minor, even insignificant. I was happy, even looking forward to bedtime with the kids. Amazing what a little break, and a very understanding and thoughtful husband can do. It was a small thing, really. They are his kids too, and he enjoys being with them. What made it so wonderful to me is that he didn't judge. He didn't question why the day was so hard, or try and tell me what I could have done to handle it better. He just helped, and gave me the room that I needed to mend my frazzled nerves. Did I already mention how much I love him?