Some magic happened today. We flipped from crappy mom turning her kids into couch potatoes to Owen saying “This is the best day of my life!” Hunh? How did that happen? Well, I’ll tell ya.
Early afternoon is my all time low time of day, sometimes getting worse by late afternoon. So I suck at finding entertainment for the kids if I have no plan. Yesterday we worked on setting new records for huge amounts of screen-time and I gave them pizza for dinner. Yay me.
So today, I drove Owen to his beloved science camp and made a plan. Laura and I dashed to Loblaws and found the swimsuit we have been looking for all week for $10 –score! Then off to her speech therapist for a very productive session and the “girls” did lunch at Mongolian Village. Laura loved it and proclaimed I was the best mom ever – a welcome boost to my flailing self-esteem this week. Then we picked up Owen from camp which went very well as all his experiments worked perfectly.
What to do for adventure in the tiring afternoon? Why head for the Museum of Nature, of course! The newly renovated museum was great, even if we did whip through at lightning speed. The building itself is beautifully done with some great spaces. The galleries and exhibitions are diverse and well done on the whole. Cafe was rather expensive but they must know I’d rather pay it than have an overtired, hungry kid meltdown so whatever.
Next home for a gourmet meal of mac ‘n cheese for the kids and samosas for me. (I’m solo tonight so anything goes.) Then they wanted to go bike riding. Haven’t done that in a while so I grab some runners and band aids and head out. Laura still rides with training wheels and it makes my life easier to have her doing that until she is really confident.
Owen has some gross motor issues with coordination and balance and so had not yet mastered riding on his own without me holding on a bit. Well tonight was his night to show me how far he’s come. He did it all by himself! Zipping down the street to the park, around the playground without a single crash. And if that wasn’t enough, we discovered a fresh raspberry patch bursting with yummy berries too. This is when Owen exclaimed “This is the best day of my life!” I am so happy for him.
So, I guess I don’t totally suck as a mom today. The plan worked. Unfortunately I had no camera with me all day so couldn’t document a thing. Oh well. Still special in my memory. May there be more magic moments like these this summer.
Sounds like it was a fantastic day. Yay!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great day! I find the good days are often ones where I am organized and can get us moving. The Museum is always great. Good choice!
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