Whew.

Well, in spite of all my New Year's resolutions to be more productive, get things done in the morning, and so on, today was one of THOSE days. You know the days I mean - one of those days when you not only drop off, but also pick up your 4 year old from preschool wearing a crazy thrown-together sweat outfit, having not showered or even washed your face. (Of course you make sure to say "that was a fun RUN, wasn't it baby?" plenty of times really loud so everyone will understand why you are covered in sweat.) One of the days when you go to the grocery store specifically to buy 2 packets of Kool-Aid mix in order to make play dough for preschool and leave with drain-o, coffee, syrup, and Gatorade ... and no Kool-Aid. One of those days where the naps do not line up correctly and you find yourself plopping the baby down in front of a bowl of dangerous but fascinating buttons, hoping he doesn't choke and die while you frantically mop the kitchen floor. One of those days when you shower at 2 pm, throw on whatever happens to be in the dryer that fits, don't even register the concepts of "hair" or "makeup," only realizing that you STILL look like a maniac when your husband returns home and does a double-take when he sees you.

Of course, it was also a day when I had almost 2 whole hours with my oldest to do puzzles and paint pictures and talk about the day. A day when the baby clapped his hands for the first time and gave even more hugs and kisses than usual. A day with hours and hours of time spent outside, wandering through the pastures, climbing trees and crawling in the grass. A day that reminded me that what I look like and what I clean and what I have to show off at the end of the day are not at all important. One of those exhausting, embarrassing, unproductive, beautiful, fun, wonderful days.