Taking stock

Today was supposed to be my first day where everyone is out of the house, at least for a couple hours. Generally, this event would be marked with a celebratory bagel or coffee, but not today. Instead, I've got the Bear in tow, as he is under the weather. But it was quite nice, actually. He took an exceptionally long warm bath, played a couple computer games and drank Gatorade. I think he relished the quiet--I changed beds and did laundry while he puttered about independently. So while I was looking forward to a few hours alone, this ended up being a nice surprise, since it is almost never just Bear and me. We did do some stocking up on things I would typically get in November or December: the tylenol, powerade (the non-colored kind), Shasta lemon-lime (only $.25 a can) and chicken noodle soup. We also had nice conversations, all about topics he wanted to talk about. Every now and then, I think kids need a "day off," just away from the others so they can be heard. It also reminds me to "take stock" of the blessings of just being around them while they're young. I really enjoyed the day with him, sickness or not.