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Today was a day that went from nice, to trying, and back to nice again.

The days of the week all kind of blur together for me as a stay-at-home mom, especially since Joshua doesn't work a normal Monday through Friday job. But I'm always in a different mindset on Saturdays, even when Joshua is working. Something about knowing that everyone else has the day off, too, and is doing weekend things, makes me feel a little bit different. So I woke up in a good mood. I had a nice morning at home with the kids, and then managed to get them down for a three-hour synchronized nap, which is a major mama feat at this stage in the game. I accomplished what I wanted to and needed to, which feels really good when most days the "need to's" are sketchy and the "want to's" are a joke. Feeling confident about our day (you moms of toddlers know what I mean... this confidence can make or break you deciding to leave the house), we headed to the grocery store after lunch.

Aidan is a blissful child. Meaning blissful to raise. He's easy, and eager to please, and really a sweet spirit. Today he decided to venture into Terrible Two Land at the grocery store. There was screaming like a banshee; throwing cocoa powder out of the cart and onto the floor, which spilled all over the aisle and all over me; and shoving me when I corrected him about his brutish behavior. This was in between the happy times when he was helping me tell a story and asking me to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider over and over and over again. It's hot and cold, man, I'm telling you. Then I got in line and a very dear old man bagged my groceries and put practically every single item in a separate shopping bag.

By the time I got back home, I was worn out. Vacillating between entertaining and disciplining your toddler for an hour while trying to multitask with grocery shopping and replacing baby's passie every few minutes may not sound like such a task -- yeah, that's what I thought, too, before I had two children. Wait 'til I have three! I'll think this was a piece of cake! I was mentally worn out, and hot, and tired from bringing in so many bags of groceries, and sad because I don't like it when Aidan misbehaves. It's not enjoyable to be the disciplinarian, although I'm strict about it because I believe it's necessary for the shaping of my son's character and future. I'd much rather have fun with him, though.

The rest of the day was pretty fun, until bath time. I took away a toy that Aidan was playing with after he deliberately (and defiantly, I might add) disobeyed me, and he became enraged. The face he gave me was so unlike him I almost laughed, but frowned instead to show him that he can't be ugly to his mama. I've never seen him so angry before. It was pretty short-lived, however. He seems to understand cause and effect pretty well.

After I got Aidan down to bed, Maddie decided to have the worst case of gas ever (note to self: Really, don't eat any more broccoli. Really.), which resulted in wailing every five minutes for two hours. So I'm bouncing a baby and cooking dinner... and Joshua comes in and gets her down right as I'm finishing up, thankfully. And he says as we sit down to eat, "I'm proud of myself for getting her down to sleep like that" and cue baby cry! So dinner was a haphazard affair (although delicious!). I had to keep from chugging the wine.

But then Michael and Jain came in... they are staying with us this week for Ben and Chelsea's wedding... and we had great conversation and catching up and talking about stuff that really matters. And it just brings the day full circle. It helps you remember that this, too, shall pass and that these are the good moments that you'll have stories and laughs about on down the road. People and relationships are so essential to living. Just having that connection at the end of the day changed the tenor of the day and how I tell it. Community is a good, good thing! And so is chocolate cake. So I'm baking one tomorrow.