some Mondays are better than others

I had yesterday planned out perfectly. School in the morning, lunch date with Aaron, a few chapters of Robin Hood and a nice quiet afternoon nap. It all happened according to plan. Around 3 pm, I started making dinner. Mondays are usually pasta night. I had all the ingredients for spinach lasagna, and enough left over to take to a sick neighbor. The homemade sauce had been simmering in the crock pot all morning and the cheeses were mixed together. Simon woke up from his nap just as I was boiling the noodles. He was super grumpy and wanted my attention, so he pulled a towel off the counter which happened to be the resting place for several glass dishes. They all shattered on the kitchen floor before I could save them. I gave Simon food in his high chair (reward for being such a monster) and began cleaning up the mess. Before I was finished Simon was screaming to get out. He's usually content when there's food in front of him, so I knew something was wrong. He was poopy (probably had been for some time) and his poor little hiney was bright red. I stripped him down and put him in the kitchen sink... he needed a bath and I needed to get the lasagna in the oven so I could take it to my neighbor in time. Because I was stressed, I failed to clear away any objects within the reach of the sink, which included a plant Zack was growing in the window sill. Yep, before I could even finish cleaning up the rest of the glass, Simon had dumped the plant into the sink and was bathing in dirt. I turned on the faucet to rinse him off (and went to move him to the other side) but he thought he was being punished and was getting out of the sink for good. Simon loves playing in the water and wasn't about to be finished just yet. As I went to pick him up, he grabbed the faucet with both hands... and when I tried to yank him off, the faucet came with. Honestly, I don't even know how it happened because neither of us are that strong. All I know is that the sink was spraying cold water all over me and everything else.

I know it sounds funny, but it wasn't. at all. I had a red-bummed baby covered in poop and dirt and broken sink. Dinner (which was supposed to be in the oven by now) was spread out all over the water-soaked counters. I ran Simon upstairs and bathed him quickly in a place that was meant for bathing. I dressed him and told his older brothers that they needed to occupy him until I could get dinner in the oven. I was able to salvage enough food to make two small pans of lasagna, which was more than I could have hoped for. By this time the oven had been heating up the kitchen for over an hour and I was sweating... I knew I needed to do something about the sink, but I just didn't have the gusto. I just put my hands in my face and started sobbing.

The kids, who were playing blocks in the other room heard me crying and came running in to ask what was wrong. I told them it was nothing-- I was just having a bad day. I needed some fresh air, so I grabbed a pan to boil the corn on the cob and headed outside to fill it with water. As I turned on the hose and leaned down with my old, rusty pot, I stared laughing and said to myself, "Whose life is this, anyway?" As a little girl, I dreamed of having a nice house and children of my own, and this was NEVER what I pictured. How did a nice girl like me get stuck with a broken kitchen sink?

When I came inside, I turned on the stove and heard a little 5 year old voice talking on the phone saying something like this: "Mom's having a really bad day and I think you should come home now." I walked into find Zack hanging up the phone with an I-just-saved-the-day look on his face. Daddy arrived home shortly after. I took dinner to the neighbors and he fixed the kitchen sink like a pro with a plumber's crack. When I arrived home, the table was set and dinner was ready. One particular person liked his lasagna and corn more than anyone else at the table.


After dinner we had FHE outdoors at a nearby miniature golf course. This is EXACTLY what I needed. My eyes were still puffy from crying, but everything was right in the world.


If getting out in the beautiful weather with my family didn't make me happy, then finding this homemade card under my pillow did. I am grateful for a husband who comes to my rescue and kids who are willing to "clean my room" when I have a bad day. some Mondays are better than others.