Regular Day

Some days are fantastic.

This was not one of those days.

It wasn’t a terrible day. Not the worst day we’ve ever had, by a long shot. Actually, no one really even cried. Nope, it was just a regular kind of day. The TV was on way too much for my liking. Alice refused to nap and made an incredible racket building a fort with the furniture in her bedroom. The living room was a disaster. All. Day. Long. 

A regular day. Far from beautiful, nothing creative, and chalked full of the small annoyances of life. As I filled a pot with water to boil for our (unremarkable) spaghetti dinner, something dawned on me. This is exactly the sort of day that I will remember years from now. I will remember Ethan saying “No no no” every time anyone asked something, because he is almost two and that is pretty much all he says all day long (except for “GUH GUH!” when he demands to nurse). I will remember both kids chasing each other with sticks, knowing in my mind that it was sure to end badly. I will remember glancing at the clock every five minutes or so, counting the minutes until my husband calls to say he is on the train coming home. Parenting at 6pm is SO MUCH EASIER when you’ve got back-up. 

Yes. A regular day. It’s not exactly how I wanted it to be, but there wasn’t anything that I regret. I was here at home, with my kids, thinking often of my husband. I didn’t yell and the kids didn’t fight. At the end of this ordinary day, I am grateful that we are all healthy and safe, because that basic security is not a given for every family. 

So tonight, I will do what I presume most mamas are doing. I will tuck in my babies, read some stories and sing a bunch of lullabies (or, more accurately, the same lullaby a bunch of times). I will kiss their foreheads and think about tomorrow. I will shake my head at the dishes in the sink, walk past the mountains of laundry to be folded, and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. After all, maybe tomorrow will be as ordinary as today. And wouldn’t that be awesome?