Another park day

Today was forecast to be as warm as yesterday, but we went to the park this afternoon (about the same time that we went yesterday) and, let me tell you, it was much warmer than yesterday. The sun was shining and only a gentle breeze was blowing (instead of being completely overcast and windy) so that probably contributed a lot to the difference in temperature. I would certainly believe that it got to be in the mid-60s this afternoon. Yesterday was a completely different story. There is no way it was in the mid-60s.

On our way to the park we picked up a stray friend, which was nice because she helped keep Rachel entertained. We actually were already planning on babysitting this friend later in the day but I didn't mind taking her to the park as well (because she helps keep Rachel entertained and because her mom took Miriam all morning while Rachel was at school which meant that I could go back to bed (which was wonderful because our neighbour's dogs were up barking all night long)).

They played Harry Potter on the way to the park—looking for basilisks in storm drains and so forth—and then spent the whole time we were at the park running around like little crazies.

Miriam? She mostly just sat in the swing. The whole time we were at the park. Which was over an hour.

My friend Cristina can back me up on this—she was nice enough to meet us at the park so that we could chat and take turns pushing Miriam in a swing (arm workout for the day...done).

On the way home we stopped by another neighbour to pick out a filing cabinet. It's kind of a bad time to be acquiring furniture, I realize that, but we've been wanting another filing cabinet for years. We have a little one that is so full it's ridiculous and then we have a cardboard one (that is ready to be tossed) as well as boxes of things yet to be filed. So really the cabinet would just be replacing boxes full of un-filed documents that we'd be lugging along with us anyway. 

Then we tramped through that neighbour's backyard (making a play date for tomorrow on the way) and into our little friend's backyard to drop her off before making our way home.

When Daddy came home we had a quick dinner and then sent him to the neighbour's to babysit their kids (as I mentioned before) who were already in bed. By 7:00! By the time my girls were bathed, dressed in jammies, and read to it was nearly 9:00. We're not very efficient over here.

For Christmas the girls got these bath dyes...they're kind of strange. They just turn the bath water different colours but don't really stain anything. The girls love them. I think they're kind of gross and the instructions say to rinse off both children and bathtub with fresh water after use so it's almost like bathing kids twice.

After bath time I braided Miriam's hair so that she could have Hermione hair tomorrow. She looks so pretty in braids. 

Also, my children have no idea how to act natural. They're posers. Obviously.

The Republican caucus (which we aren't going to due to our political affiliation) is running overtime. It's still going on but the girls have been in bed for nearly an hour. At 8:30 Andrew messaged me to say that there were over 230 people there and that it would be a while before he'd be coming home. We had just finished up with story time and the girls decided that they needed to say goodnight to their daddy (since they haven't seen him since Tuesday morning, really, and won't see him until dinner tomorrow) so we walked down to the neighbours to say goodnight.

Miriam wanted to say goodnight to her friends but they'd already been in bed for an hour and a half so we convinced her just to say goodnight to her daddy. We chatted for a few minutes, the girls gave their daddy a cuddle, and then we had family prayer before heading home.

On the way we stopped to look at the stars. I was able to point out both of The Dippers, Orion, The North Star, and Venus. I don't think the girls ever quite understood where I was pointing but they were certainly impressed with my vast knowledge, anyway.

"How do you know all of this?" Rachel asked.

"Well, when I was in college I took an astronomy class," I told her.

"What?!" she gasped. "You took a star class?! I want to be a space ranger when I grow up so I'm going to take star classes, too. Just like you! I didn't know that you learned all that stuff! I just thought that you were a mom!"

Somehow she's always shocked when she finds out that life existed before she did.

She's also been on a bit of a feminist kick lately. At church on Sunday we were talking about prophets and she asked if a girl could be the prophet. Her teacher whispered that girls could not be prophets. Then she asked if a girl could be the bishop. Her teacher whispered that girls could not be bishops. Then she asked, "Well, what can girls do then?"

I turned around and told her that girls could do lots of things—we can teach, we can lead, we can go on missions, we can be moms. She wasn't exactly satisfied.

A couple of days later she requested that I please get a job.

"Why?" I asked, expecting her to say something about our lack of monetary resources (she'll often find pennies and give them to me to "help pay for Daddy's school" or something else that she's heard me pray that we'll find enough money to afford).

Instead she said, "Because—being a mom is so boring. I wish that you did something cool like you used to—like work at a library or be a teacher. Then I could tell people that you actually do something."

I told her that I am doing something—I'm raising my children. And that's a lot of hard work.

"Well, when we're grown up, then will you get a job?" she asked.

I told her that we'd see. There's plenty of time before she grows up and then we have to wait for Miriam and Benjamin (and anyone else who comes along) to grow up, too. Though it isn't exactly like I haven't been working while raising my kids. In fact, I've worked (for money) for three out of five of Rachel's years. She just hasn't noticed because it's either been while she's been sleeping or because the jobs have been doing something that she doesn't consider work (like babysitting or tutoring).

If she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up, I think that's fine. For a while I wanted to be a veterinarian and a couple other things, I'm sure, but I also know that I've always wanted to be a mother.

On the hard days it's difficult to imagine why I ever thought this would be my dream job. But there are lots of days when it is my dream job. Perhaps one day Rachel will understand this. Perhaps not (after all, we often don't see eye to eye) but hopefully she'll at least understand and appreciate all the time I've spent raising her.

Alright—so this wasn't exactly the place I imagined this post going, but there it went.

And, by the way, that caucus just got over. Andrew is unlocking the door as I type—and has just reported that the caucus is actually not over. Instead Phillip's basketball game ended and he came home to take over being the responsible person home (he's the uncle to the kids Andrew was watching). Crazy long night!