Flashback

Because Lana's preschool is closed this week, and because Wednesday is an always an early court morning for me, I dropped Lana off with my sister this morning and I won't pick her up until tomorrow evening. (It made more sense for her to spend the night with her cousins than for me to pick her up at 6:00 this evening and drop her back off early tomorrow morning.)



As a result, Gabriel, Husband and I spent the evening together, a kind of flashback to the family we were up until 16 months ago.



It was...peaceful. We went out to dinner and there was no squabbling over the ketchup or who gets to sit by mom or dad or who got better crayons. I looked at Husband and asked him if this what our life was really like before Lana. And he said, 'yes, basically.'



I guess my life was a lot quieter before. And it was a lot easier to line up a babysitter for one quiet little boy than it is for two children...



However, I've just put Gabe to bed, after reading a chapter of "The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy"*, and singing a song**. But now the door to Lana's bedroom is open and her pink bed is empty save for her stuffed bears and while I'm reminded that my life was probably quieter before, it lacked the sweet soundtrack of a little girl who is always singing, and often laughing, and generally making our lives more interesting.



I won't lie and say it wasn't nice to have some one on one time with Gabe, which is something I rarely have now.

But, I'll be happy to see my little girl when I pick her up tomorrow night.



LM



*if you have an eight year old boy in your house, you should be reading him this book. it's hysterical



**Gabe, such an old soul, is partial to having old timey hymns sung to him at bedtime, and tonight he requested 'Be Thou My Wisdom'. This reminded me of a night several years ago, when I was studying for the Bar at the Law Library, and Husband called me exasperated at Gabe's bedtime, asking what song Gabe wanted him to sing that sounded like "beet juice with them?" And I said, "Be Thou My Wisdom"? And I stood in a quiet corner of the law library and very very quietly sang a verse of that very old hymn into my three year old's ear through the phone...and that is probably my ONLY sweet or tender memory of the horror of the two months I spent studying for the Bar.