Day 22: Cheater, cheater, bo-beater

I’ve received some feedback that my tone has turned a tiny bit pessimistic. The “woe is me” angle seems to have gone from light observations to a cry for help.

And they’re right. I had hit a low point this week.

So today, when my husband said he was taking back the garage full of recyclables and he’d be by the store anyway and wasn’t there a few things he could pick up, I caved and gave him my list.

That left the afternoon free for me and the girls. No awkward stroller to position on the bus full of irritated passengers. No screaming kids in the juice aisle. No I-have-had-enough mothering.

We walked to our favorite spot, Fell Park, which is a half mile away through a shaded neighborhood. At the playground, Carolyn met a 4-year-old boy, who had been taught Russian before English and spoke both fluently, and they played for an hour.

Coming home, with two happy, well-behaved daughters, feeling a little happy myself, I remembered part of the reason I wanted to give up my car in the first place. I wanted my girls to have a childhood where they could explore their world at a slower pace. I didn’t want to spend our days in commute. I wanted them to know cars were optional, always.

As an afterthought, I felt a little guilty about not doing the family shopping, but as my husband likes to say, I have a heightened sense of guilt.

It’s my superpower.