Of Sundays and Mondays

I'm not sure which one of us registered more shock when our neighbor, fellow kindergartner, and Monday morning carpool friend, hopped out of her minivan and onto our driveway in full cowgirl attire this morning. Charlie turned to bury his head in my legs, while my brain churned ever so slowly back to an announcement that came home on Friday about Spirit Week. I'm not sure if Charlie was upset about his lack of western attire, or if he was just overwhelmed by the exuberance of an unexpected cowgirl on Monday morning. The cowgirl's mom smiled and muttered something about how she had thought about reminding me. I stood frozen, with Charlie attached to my legs, trying to think. We had nothing he could throw on at the last minute - no vest, no cowboy hat, not even a bandana. It was a major Mom Fail to start the week.

As I drove to work fighting back tears, I marveled at how something so insignificant could completely wreak my morning. Turns out nothing is insignificant when it comes to your child and the chance to make him/her happy. In that instant this morning when faced with the cheery cowgirl, I had let Charlie down. I carried the weight around with me all morning, letting it pull my thoughts into sad distraction.

And then I decided to let it all go. I decided instead to look back and focus on the very recent past. We had an absolutely beautiful Sunday with the kids. We had brunch at a friend's house and then the kids all played together while the adults took in the Plaza Art Fair. It was relaxing, refreshing, playful and just what we needed after several stressful weeks of kindergarten expectations. Our friends have this wonderful swing in their front yard, and it was the perfect day for swinging. Who knew a simple, old-fashioned swing could make them laugh so hard?

I will have a chance to redeem myself with Spirit Week and tomorrow's Crazy Hair Day. But for now, I'm reliving Sunday in all its carefree glory. These are happy, loved kids - western wear be damned!

The Plaza at its finest!

This tipi is part of a new exhibit at the Nelson Atkins Museum on the Plains Indians. It is temporarily in Arno Park on Ward Parkway and we stopped to take a look.

Charlie waited (somewhat) patiently all through Sunday brunch for his chance to play these drums. He has clearly watched someone play the drums before and we were surprised that his approach was so deliberate. But we're still not getting drums anytime soon!

The next time I'm having a bad day, I will listen to this laughter and smile big!