Two-A-Days + Good Friends = Happy Mom

Whew. I remember at the end of summer in high school, the volleyball team would have a week or two of "two-a-days."  It wore me out. My entire body ached to the point that I had to sit down in the shower.  I was exhausted.  Well, today we pulled a "two-a-day" not for volleyball, but for play dates.  I'm almost as tired and sore as I was in 1996.

We had a great time playing at a friend's house late-morning through lunch. We came home and had "rest time" which is code for "kids slept while I worked on invitations to my sister's baby shower, cleaned out the ottoman where, unbeknownst to me, the kids had been storing all of the parts to all of their board games - including 4 Memory games, folded laundry that has been in the basket for... well, nevermind, and gagged over a bottle of milk that someone had hidden in one of my pots." When the unrestful rest time was over, we headed off to another friend's house for a delicious dinner and more play time.  The kids were in bed and asleep without complaints, trips to the bathroom, or requests for water.  Everyone is tuckered out.

I'm not complaining though. I'll take this exhaustion any day.  It sure beats the exhaustion that comes from a day of two pre-schoolers and a toddler whining and fighting and picking on each other because there's nothing else to do.  This is the happy fatigue that comes from a day well-spent and well-played.

And this leads me to my happy thought for the day: Good friends are truly priceless. Always. But good friends who can be open and honest with you, who don't worry about how clean their house is because they've seen your house at its worst too, who let you clean their dishes as a 'thank you' for a yummy dinner, who don't think you're crazy when your kid walks around with tomato sauce behind his ears and in his hair.... now those friends... Those friends are the saving grace for this happy and exhausted mom.

And, Good Night!

(This photo is obviously not from today since Grace is now almost 5 years old, BUT it pretty well captures how I feel right now.)