There are Good Days and There are Bad Days

Everyone has good days and everyone has bad days...even kids. Friday was a bad day(or should I say bad evening for Austen since he was in 'school' until 5pm). My dad happened to be down in the city for a meeting so he picked me up from work, we got Austen, took Adler and Austen for a walk and all seemed to be going well for a Friday evening. We were going to let Austen stay up a little bit later this evening so we could go to dinner and enjoy the nice summer night while watching the planes from the Air and Water Show fly overhead.

About two or three weeks ago we said it was going to be a long time before we took Austen out to eat again because at this age, he just doesn't want to sit in his seat long enough for us to eat a meal while we're at a restaurant. Well, I must've forgotten how unenjoyable it was last time because I thought we'd be able to corral him in the fenced-off outside dining area at our local pizza place. For awhile, he seemed to be doing okay. He watched the planes, admired the 'choo choo' across the street and drew some pictures. About an hour into our dinner my dad, who was facing me, had noticed that Austen had gone behind me and somehow slipped through the fence so he was on the outside of the eating area. Now if you lived in the burbs, this probably wouldn't have been a big deal but Austen was mere feet from a very busy street and my dad, Tom and I sat helpless on the inside of the fence while I watched my 19-month-old smile at me and then take off toward the street. Panicked, which I'd like to say, I don't get too often, I yelled Tom's name and he quickly jumped over the fence to rescue Austen before he hit the street.

I think that incident took about 10 years off my life. Fast forward to Saturday, we took Austen to the beach, he slept the whole hour there in the car so Tom and I got to enjoy some quiet conversation and then he played wonderfully on the beach with his toys by himself and Tom and I got to read a few articles in our magazines. We spent about four hours at the beach, went for ice cream and then he fell asleep for a nice quiet ride on the way home. What an enjoyable day.

I guess no two days are alike when you have kids. One day could be a nightmare and the next could be absolute bliss and make parenting look easy. I'm just grateful for some easy days now and then!