Bad Stuff Minus Sleep Equals Goodness

Not following that equation, you say? Okay, let me break it down for you this way:

Bad Stuff--Girls had bad food today.
Minus Sleep--Girls had late naps and a late bed time.
Equals Goodness--We had a great day!

I have come to realize that I'm either Crazy Mom, overly concerned about healthy meals (you may only have whole grains, fruits, and veggies) and routine sleep (nap by 1, bed by 8), or I'm Chillaxin' Mom, anything goes for food, and sleep whenever you want; or don't; I don't care.

I am one extreme or the other.  I can not be relaxed and still maintain good habits.  Nor am I a crazy mom when I'm feeding my kids junk and throwing schedules out the window.  Well, that could be considered crazy behavior, but what I mean is when I have no regard for the food pyramid or nap schedules I'm not my usual psychotic control-freak self.

Today I was soooo relaxed and it was a totally great day, all the way around. I woke up about four, sick.  (Okay, hang with me, we're getting to the great part.  Actually that is probably the reason for the goodness because when I am sick I don't have the energy to be uptight about schedules or upset about feeding my kids food substitutes we call food.  Back to the point...)  Both of our alarms went off at six but I was just falling back asleep.  So, I woke up later.  Later as in after the first time, and later as in late, like 8.  Here's where things took a turn for the better.  Big girl had preschool at 9, I had MOPS at 9, and since baby girl gets to go to Moppets when I go to MOPS, all three of us had to be ready in less than an hour.  (See?  Better already.  No?  Keep hanging.)

Weirdness.  I am T-totally relaxed!  (Goodness has just popped over my horizon!)  At first I think there's no way I'm going to MOPS today, but then I decide I'm going to do it and just roll with the craziness.  Tame the bed head (in case you're wondering, we get baths at night), throw clothes on, brush teeth, and...

Here's a breakfast bar, girls.  (Bad stuff.)

Big girl is at least ten minutes late to preschool--first of many times, I'm sure.  After I drop her off, and since I'm already late, I decide to go grab a Starbucks drink for my breakfast.  (Goodness is shining full on my face.)  This detour takes more than a few minutes and leaving baby girl in the nursery doesn't go as smoothly as usual; so, by the time I get in my meeting, it's almost ten.  Chatting with several others mommas reassures me no one cares since many of them were late too.  And I still get in almost two hours of kid-free time.  (More goodness.)

Preschool and MOPS both end at noon.  Usually I am in a somewhat psychotic dash to get home, feed the girls, and get them down for nap.  Today, in my totally relaxed mood, I decide to do my grocery run first.  Unfortunately, I am hungry (major, major no-no to go to the store hungry) and buy all sorts of stuff that is NOT on my list--more breakfast bars, Funyuns, and Smartfood Popcorn.  (If you haven't had this popcorn, you really must try it!)  Perhaps the girls are excited about the junk they see piling up in our cart, or perhaps they are pumped that they are able to talk me into buying bubbles in pineapple shaped bottles, I'm not sure what it is, but they behave as angels.  (Yep, you guessed it--goodness.)

As we're checking out, my man calls to say they have left-over lunches at the work site.  (By golly, is that free goodness I smell?)  We get to stop by the work site, see my man, and visit with some friends that we literally see once a year (when they come to help him build houses), and we get free food that I don't have to cook.  But, yes, it is Back Yard Burger.  (More bad stuff, albeit yummy.  Many thanks to whoever supplemented Back Yard Burger's sack lunches with banana-and-grape-goodness.)

At home, I put away the few refrigerated items I have then sit with the girls while they go to sleep--way past their normal nap time.  They both fall asleep and I get some really awesome time to myself on the deck before my man comes home.  (Double goodness.)  The bags of groceries are still on the table, and the house is littered with laundry and toys from yesterday and this morning.  I don't care.  (My goodness!  Who is this woman?)

The girls wake up and they want a snack.  When I ask what they want, I notice big girl is eyeing the junk on the table, but she says, "I don't know."  I point to the table and say, "Pick something."  Still in disbelief that she is really getting her pick of what she wants, she replies, "What can I have?"  To reassure her that she can pick from the junk too, I say, "Chips, popcorn, bars, whatever."  Trying to hide a smile, she points to the Funyuns.  She, her sis, and her daddy, perform logic-defying disappearing acts on a bowl of Funyuns and two bowls of popcorn.  (Yummy, sinful, goodness.)

My man has orchestra rehearsals on Tuesday nights--right about the time we are usually eating and beginning bed time routines.  Tonight, however, I decide we should all go so the girls can experience, up close, daddy playing his French horn.  They had a late nap; so, they are not going to want to go to bed soon.  And they just ate a bunch of salt, oil, and preservatives; so, they are not going to want supper soon.  But, they are already in their PJ's.  Oh well.  We just throw on jackets and head out the door.  At church, they get to run in the sanctuary and crawl under the pews.  I'm sure they think I've completely checked out on them at this point and they are LOVIN' it!  (Pure and simple goodness.)

It's bedtime when we get home but big girl reminds me that I promised they would get to blow their new bubbles today.  So, we hang out on the deck and blow a few bubbles, before making supper from yesterday's work site left-overs (BBQ pork, beans, and potato salad--more bad stuff).  Then we head to bed and daddy says he'll lay down with them.  Hmmm.  I know how this is going down.  I say good night and turn to leave, but I hear giggling before I get out of the room.  In a few minutes I hear a strange sound and lots of laughing from all three of my silly loves.  So, I head back to the party.  Realizing the sound is coming from baby girl, I say, "What is she doing?"  She is saying, "Hoooooooooooooooooooooock!" in a very throaty way, then, "Excuse me."  You probably, like me, assume she is having a wannahockaloogie moment, but no.  She is pretending to burp.  They think this is hysterical.  Their laughter is an overflow of goodness.  "My cup runneth over."  (Psalm 23)

Big girl, when she composes herself, says, "Daddy is keeping us awake."  Mmmm-hmmm.  She is some rotten goodness.

It is near midnight as I wrap up this post and my sweet girls have only been asleep about an hour, maybe an hour and a half.  I'm exhausted, and still sick, but today has been fun.  Good.  I have not worried about cooking, cleaning, or even maintaining boundaries and we have had a relaxed, unscheduled, and unusual kind of day.  It's not been so much about what we did but how we did it, or how I did it.  My attitude was to roll with it from the time I woke up this morning (the second time).  And roll we did, right up until we rolled into bed with laughter.

I've heard it said that the momma sets the tone for the home.  Amen to that!  I actually liked the tone I set today.  It was strange and wonderful.  Hoping for more days of strange, wonderful relaxation.  It's a new feeling to me, a new tone in my home, and I like it.  Just praying I can learn to relax AND continue to feed my kids real food.

And I pledge to feel no guilt tomorrow when the girls are cranky from their lack of sleep.

Because it's all good...ness....as my AWEsome God is making me into the mom He intends for me to be, one day at a time.



"Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."
2 Corinthians 4:16

"And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'"
Revelation 21:5