Sleep and Tuesdays

You know what's amazing?


Really amazing?

Sleep.


Remember that calendar conundrum from a couple days ago?

Well this morning I hopped out of bed with a kick in my step and a zoom in my legs -- that duck greeted me and I gave him a cheerful "quack" right back.  Guess what?  I got 8 1/2 hours of sleep last night!  Fabulous!

Maybe all this hurry-up-month-and-get-over-with was just a need for a full night's sleep.

Trying to cram not-nearly everything in a day means I don't get to bed until midnight many nights.

I think I'm tired.


Yesterday was Tuesday and Tuesdays are Grammie days.  That means I take my two little ones over to Grammie's house right after I drop Blazer off at school.  And when I pick him up, I take him over there too.  To top it all off, when I picked them up yesterday -- we all stayed for dinner.

Do you know what that means?

Besides the fact that I was able to go grocery shopping all by myself, it means that the house stayed perfectly clean all day . . . and that I didn't have to cook or do any dishes all day.

Do you know what that means?

After I tucked my babies into bed . . .

I could go to bed too!!!

Usually that's when I'm dashing around the house picking up toys and clothes and books and papers and folding laundry and cleaning up from dinner and doing dishes.

When your kids aren't home all day . . . you don't have a mess!

This is an amazing concept.  Is this what it's like when your kids are in day care?  Crazy.

I literally kissed my boys goodnight and then brushed my teeth and crawled into bed.

What a gift.


It reminds me of the huge job I do everyday -- to care for three children, keep them safe, provide a clean and safe and loving environment, feed them, scrape their plates and take out their garbage, bathe them and brush their teeth and tuck them in with books and kisses.

It's hard work.

And it's lovely work.

And I'm thankful for the chance to do it.

Even though sometimes, when it's late and I'm tired and I don't feel like doing it, I have to tell myself,"Oh Elizabeth -- Buck up!  Just get it done."

Music helps.

(Kids following me around making bigger messes do not.)

I am fully aware that I probably won't be going to bed until after midnight again . . . but when I fall into bed at night, knowing that the morning will go a trillion percent smoother (and we'll actually get to school on time) because the kitchen table is cleared off and the dishes are done . . . and the shoes and backpacks are right where they're supposed to be . . . and no one will trip walking down the hall to the bathroom in the middle of the night . . .

I can rest easy.

Even if it's not the 8 1/2 hours I long for.


Hey!  Tuesday is only six days away.

No problem.