Gratitude Day #19

1. I am grateful for the energy I managed to have on Friday despite the fact that I got practically no sleep. I think it was primarily adrenalin but it got me through the day.

2. I am grateful for modern medicine and for doctors. On Friday morning just twenty minutes after the first wave of seven children left for school, my youngest charge fell off his little chair while coloring. He managed to fall in such a way that he whacked his forehead on the corner of the base of my banister putting a half inch gash on his head. It was one of those moments when, as a Mom, you just know that this kid is going to need stitches. I threw all three kids into the car and drove to the nearest hospital where sure enough he ended up with three stitches and glue on his head. His Mom met me there about an hour later and we stayed there with her until he was discharged. It was a long adventure and the little guy is going to be just fine.

3. I am grateful for childhood obsessions. My children (especially Calvin) are still into collecting squishy pencil toppers. They were introduced to them by the daycare kids and all of them still play with them. I actually do not mind this trend. They are small and inexpensive and are an imaginative toy. The kids have squishy wars and build lego homes for them. On Friday, after the ER visit, I came home and took four kids over to the Mall of America on a hunt for the new releases. The kids were very, very excited and spent the rest of the day playing quietly with their new finds.

4. I am grateful for one of my daycare moms who picked up her daughter and my son from half day kindergarten and fed them lunch for me as I was still at the ER.

5. I am grateful for kids who can fend for themselves once in a while. When the last child left at 6:00 on Friday night, I could literally just feel the adrenalin leave my body and all of the sudden I was completely exhausted. I was in bed by 7:00 and asleep by 8:00. The kids made themselves sandwiches and had bananas and kiwi for dinner and Max made sure they all got in bed by 9:00. He is awesome.