Let's just throw day 5 in the trash can, shall we? Either I tried to do too much, or everyone slept wrong, but it was a struggle. I made homemade buttermilk biscuits for breakfast and they were the highlight of the morning. At 10 we did go swimming, but one of my children cried almost all day before that. Then another one started up. It was like they took turns. My sanity was severely taxed.
By lunch I was just done. We had leftover meatballs for lunch with homemade mac and cheese. I put the baby down for a nap and after a few chores, thought to myself, oh, now I can sit down and finally read some of my book. I kid you not, the last few times I have sat down to read I have only been able to read a few pages to maybe a chapter before getting interrupted by someone. Yesterday it was my husband who had the audacity to come home on time. Which was 5:30pm. It only happens 2-3 times a year because he is an electrical and computer engineer and usually works 1-3 hours overtime daily. Then there are the kids. I won't count the interruptions of the kids because I don't have enough fingers. We are working on asking mama to pause her reading before blurting out questions because I need a second to pull myself out of the 1700s and into the modern age before settling disputes and handling snacks. It causes me severe whiplash to hear constantly "Where is my _______? I need help with ________." Or my favorite, "I'm hungry can I have a snack?" Esther will literally come up to me and bang on me and go MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY until I give her attention. Then she smiles the biggest smile and shows me a book or a block or asks to nurse. Which is adorable, but also distracting.
But there I was. Esther was sleeping. My older kids were having screen time. The world was my oyster! Uninterrupted reading, here I come!
I literally looked at the clock and it was hours before my husband was expected home. I remember thinking oh, now I can really relax!
I curled up on the couch and had my book and made myself a little bowl of ice cream when...my husband walked through the door. It was 2:30pm.
I stared at him in utter disbelief. God does not want me to read this book. Or relax. What was going on?
"I'm not fired," He said. (Always my first question when he gets home early, which has happened about 3-4 times since I've known him.) "I decided to take a half day to spend time with you all."
Ya'll, I almost cried! Not from happiness, but from vexation. I love him coming home on time but he immediately wanted me to put down my book and give him my undivided attention and ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS READ. I got mad. I said, I just want to read my book! And he got upset because here he was all ready to spend time with me. It was not my best moment. Anyway we ended up compromising and he went out and played video games for an hour in his home office with Reuben and I read my book and felt like scum. Even my ice cream tasted like disappointment.
Then, when Esther woke up we all spent time together while I still felt like I had ruined his gift...and then I got tired and grouchy and was sharp with the kids and had to apologize and it was just not the best day. I asked my husband to please not to surprise me with random days off but to text me in advance so I can pivot my plans for the day. He said he would try. Anyway it's fine now. By that I mean I am going to try to think about what is best for our family not about what I want in a given moment. But really, what a crazy day it was.
I'm not the best with surprises.
At least our new dishwasher is amazing, and runs so quiet I forget it's on and try to open it.
It just goes to show you that even when you have the best laid plans God's plans might be different and learning to love interruptions should be the 11th commandment.
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