Monday Blues

I admit it... there are times when I can't wait until Monday so I can take Sidekick to school and get a bit of a break.  Today is not one of those Mondays.  Sidekick and I had such a great weekend, and I really didn't want to have to take him to school (and work).  On Saturday, my friend came was town with her baby, so we got to hang out with them.  Sidekick enjoyed sharing/"reading" his books to his seven month old friend.  It was sweet to see him with her (and tugged at my heartstrings for my desire to have a second... stupid money making me not have another one.  If only I was willing to be in debt...).
 
Sunday we got a huge warm up, so we took advantage of it.  Instead of running errands in the morning, I said "F it!" to myself on the way to the store and went to the park.  Sidekick and I don't do well being cooped up, so the warm temps made for an exciting day for us because we could finally get out and feel alive again.  Sidekick was just mastering walking shortly before it got cold last fall, so he didn't get to master or really explore the playground.  I cannot believe how much more adventurous he is on all of the playground equipment!  The kid has never had fears, and I really enjoyed his eagerness to try everything... even if he was too little for it.  And I sure felt my age when climbing through things, squeezing into tight spaces, and sliding down winding slides with him that I barely fit on.
 
At one point, Sidekick strayed from the park and began collecting sticks.  One of them was really big!  (see pic)  Anyway as we were walking along a path, away from everyone, this little ten year old (I'm guessing his age) rode past us on his scooter and stopped.  He said to me in his little geeky, wimpy (sorry, but it's true) voice, "You really shouldn't let him play with sticks because he could hurt someone."  REALLY???  Did I just get reprimanded by a ten year old?!?  I looked at him stunned that he was basically insinuating that I was a bad parent.  So much ran through my head like: "Where the hell is your mom?  Mind your own business.  If you are going to reprimand an "elder", get a stronger voice so you sound more authoritarian.  Who made you police patrol?" After I recovered from that, Sidekick and I kept walking and he kept collecting sticks until it was time to "put them away".
 
 

 

After his nap, it was time to go outside again.  This time we stayed in the neighborhood to walk Dog.  I love these pictures of him:  his surprise when Dog jumped on the bench and his big boy look while stopping for a picture. I just enjoy watching him experience everything.  Who knew that gathering sticks could be so fun or that dodging goose poop could turn into a great game? 

I figured Sidekick would be so tired after playing outside for about three hours. I put him in his crib at 7:40, and at 9:15, he was still happily playing in his crib. I wanted to crawl into my bed because I was exhausted, and there was my 18 month old talking to his monkey, kicking his legs up and down in delight, and then quietly sucking his two fingers while grasping "Tag" (his blanket, which has a tag) when he finally drifted off to sleep.  I love his video monitor. 

And this morning, life was back to being rushed again.  There was not a lot of snuggle time, not a lot of time to be goofy, and not a lot of time to be patient because we had to get out the door to start another week.  Whoever made the work week five days surely never had kids.  Or maybe that person did have kids because we've all had those weekends when we couldn't wait until Monday!  Today was just not one of those days for me, and it certainly didn't help that the temps were back in the single digits (not counting wind chill).