Living in Utopia

Honestly, we are.

It is a great weekend at the Messal house!

Cora had an upset tummy on Thursday, so I had the pleasure of keeping a not-actually-sick-but-ineligible-for-daycare child home with me on Friday. On those days, I always have a moment when I feel stressed - I feel like I should be working. Then I remember that those days don't happen very often. I can count on one hand the number of days that my child has been ineligible for daycare, and I can't actually remember the last time she had a fever. Other than a couple of minor bouts with croup, I can't think of her actually being sick at all. No RSV, strep, flu, pnemonia... and those are all short-term illnesses. I won't even list the major illnesses that we can be thankful we haven't had! We're lucky that they're so healthy. And, I was lucky to get an extra day with her this week, especially since she even seemed to feel pretty darn good and was able to go about our errands, squeezing in a trip to the park and an evening play date with friends (after I was certain her troubles the day before were a fluke).

Last night, we had dinner at our friends' house, and brought the girls home a little after bedtime. Cora didn't fall asleep in the truck with Landon, so he carried her in awake. As is our routine, he came to the kitchen to get some milk for her, then headed up the stairs. As he turned to carry her up, Cora started reaching and screaming for me.

There are plenty of reasons why I didn't just grab her and carry her up to put her to bed myself. Landon is in class 4 nights a week during bedtime, and frankly, we both like putting her to bed so I try to leave it for him on the weekends. Plus, I don't want her to get so used to me putting her to bed that she won't relax for anyone else. Her screams weren't all that personal; if I had of been carrying her up and Landon had of been in the kitchen, Cora would have started screaming for him. And, when she is super sleepy (like she was last night) a good tantrum is a given, so this was almost inevitable.

I've felt sympathy before when I've seen situations on TV where children were being taken from their parents. But as Landon reached the top of the stairs, I felt a sudden pain of empahty. In that moment last night, I thought of mothers who have had to let go of a screaming child, not confident that they would get the child back again. Even in the predictability of Cora's tantrum last night, it was tough to have her reach for me and me  not respond by cuddling her. But to be UNABLE to respond... the idea was overwhelming. I stood looking out our kitchen window for a minute, thanking God to be born into my geography, family, and point in history, then given this sweet husband and these two healthy little girls, with the ability to buy them (too many cute) pairs of shoes and a pass to the fancy pool this summer.

Utopia is what it is.

Some pics from today.

That's Cora and Landon walking in the distance.

Our passes practically come with a "naptime guarantee".

I was hanging in the only chair I could find in the shade.

There's a rap spoof called "Dad's Life".

Landon could easily be in the video with the t-shirt not matching his board-shorts and his little homey hanging on his shoulders.

My little brown berry!

She looks like she got too much sun here, but this is before we even went to the pool.

I don't know what I'd do with a fair-skinned child.