I took the kids to the library after school yesterday. Our trip was a huge success before we even set foot inside the building, thanks to two monarchs on a butterfly bush next to the parking lot. Unafraid, they fluttered so close we thought they’d land on us. We watched, delighted.
Inside the library, Livia found the baskets of Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, and Curious George books. Rapture! And then she found a Barbie movie she hadn’t seen (“Barbie in the Pink Shoes”). Heaven! We checked out 20 books and 2 movies. We could barely carry them all back to the car.
At the grocery store, Marshall requested pizza, which seemed like a fine idea for dinner. I gave him the job of carrying the pizza box, and he took excellent care of it. Livia put on her cutest smile and nicest manners when we ran into an acquaintance in the check-out line.
When we got home, dinner went smoothly. Marshall did both his math and reading homework without complaint. My husband got the kids ready for bed, and they went to sleep right away.
There have been times when the kids have behaved so badly in public that I swore I’d never take them out again. The drama that often surrounds dinner, homework, and bedtime is sometimes enough to make me scream. But then there are the nice evenings like this one. This kind of evening makes me glad to be a parent.