Morning

Today was one of those mornings when I was truly so thankful to be a mommy. Weekday mornings are usually a frenzied and frankly semi-nightmarish experience, what with trying to get kids fed, ready for school and out the door in a somewhat reasonable timeframe while simultaneously trying to get parents showered, dressed and ready for the day. The last week has been even worse since Chase has decided to get six teeth all at one time. To say he has not been sleeping well would be an understatement, and he (well, all of us, really) has been extremely grouchy as a result of the lack of sleep and general irritation getting six teeth at once brings. There has been a lot of crying (both boys), a lot of screaming (Chase), a lot of sighing (Casey and me), with some attitude problems thrown in (all of us).

I leave you with that background so you can understand the complete shift in the air this morning. First of all, Chase slept through the night for the first time in days. He woke up pleasant and talking to himself in his crib. Then, he let me get him dressed without having a complete meltdown. He giggled a lot. He talked up a storm. Not that we haven't seen glimpses of all of these things during this excruciating teething process, but they have come in bits and pieces speckled throughout long days of aggravation and it was so nice to see all of them together in a 5 minute time-span first thing this morning.

As is typical on a Thursday morning, Casey and I were supposed to have an early morning meeting at work. With that in mind and with both boys mercifully still sleeping, we rushed to get ready for work. As Casey was hurrying out the door, he picked up his phone only to find that the meeting had been cancelled. With extra time on our hands for a change, Casey decided to take Riley to get his haircut while I waited on Chase to wake up. By the time Chase was up and I had enjoyed more of his cheerful company than I'd realized, Riley's haircut was complete. Chase and I met Casey and Riley in the parking lot at the barber shop and the three of us watched as Chase took his turn getting his hair cut. We were still a little ahead of schedule as we made our way out of the barber shop. Casey had to head to work but I took the opportunity to take the boys to Dunkin' Donuts for our traditional post-haircut treat. It was there that a true miracle occurred: both boys sat in their seats, smiled, behaved, were polite (Riley), didn't throw food (Chase) and were generally wonderful to be around. We spent at least 30 minutes watching cars go by, talking to other people enjoying their morning coffee, and eating our donuts. It was the first time in quite awhile that I was able to not rush them along and just enjoy their company on a weekday morning. It was also the first time in awhile that I felt like I had it all together as a mom.

I would be curious to know if the morning was a success because it was not rushed or if it was because Chase's happy disposition has returned or if it was because this morning was the first morning in months where the air was cool and crisp and not humid and overwhelming, or if it perhaps was a little bit of all of those things, but whatever the cause, I am thankful and happy to have spent a morning with two delightful little boys.