Cranky Monday

I pride myself on being the flexible mommy. I plan a rough schedule of things we need to do each day, and if we get a couple of those things done, it's a good day. That said, when all heck breaks loose, Flexible Mommy gets a wee bit, shall we say, cranky. Today was one of those days.

On Mondays Liam and I got to the Parent-Child class at his school. Despite my earlier trepidations, the last couple of classes have been relaxing for both of us, and have confirmed in my heart that the Waldorf ideal of "let the children play" is a parental value of great importance to me. So, I was looking forward to school this morning.

So was Liam. When he woke up, we cuddled together in bed for a bit talking about what would happen if Casey came to school with us. "Casey might lick Z! Casey might lick Mrs. A.! Casey might bark. LOTS!!" chirped Liam. (I conveniently neglected to mention that Mrs. A. is, ummm, not so fond of dogs.) So we had breakfast, got dressed, and into the car, only a few minutes late, with great expectations of fun times to be had at school.

One block down from our house, the car had something to say, basically along the lines of, "Shudder, shudder, shut down. Blink engine failure light, Sppllllltttt." So sayeth the Saturn. I managed to get the car started again, got to our driveway, where the car recognized home base, promptly died, and refused to start. After a quick perusal of the owner's manual, it became obvious that professional help was needed. So I explained to Liam that we had a change in plans. "I know you wanted to go to school, Scooter, but the car is sick. How 'bout we stay home and, um, um, um?"

Dang those plans. Clearly the car needed to get to the garage, and clearly I needed to entertain a toddler on a cold, windy day. AHA! We will call AAA! They have tow trucks! Which come to the house! And Liam loves trucks! (Thank you, dear Kevin, for suggesting this when I interrupted your workday at 8:27 A.M. this morning. I love you! Have I told you this lately?)

I figured AAA would take an hour or so to arrive. They showed up in twenty minutes, which gave us enough time to remove Liam's car seat and various essential toys and blankies from the car. As predicted, the tow truck was a hit. Liam watched the tow guy move the car to the street, extend the flatbed, and drive the car onto the truck. And anchor the car with chains, and then lift the whole shebang into the truck. It was a highly entertaining half-hour or so. Liam was initially confused when the truck drove off with our car, but was happy to learn that the truck would take the car to a "car hospital." "Mommy, tow truck is amb'lance for cars??? Ooohh, Baby see flashy lights!!"

After that we killed some time by filling the bird feeders, throwing tennis balls for Casey, and cleaning the ferrets' condo. Well, truly, I cleaned, Liam played with the ferrets. And by then, blessedly, it was time for lunch and a nap. But I still had this cranky feeling because My Plans Were Disrupted, and by the time Kevin got home, I had to escape to Walgreen's to buy toilet paper. It was an emergency! Really! Mommy needed some space!

So, altogether, it was not a bad day. A little cranky on Mommy's part, but not bad. So, the car died. At least it died in our driveway. It could just as easily have died on Route 1. In rush hour.

So, Liam pointed out to the tow truck driver that his jeans had a hole. In a very embarassing place. And his hair was "funny." It turns out the tow truck driver is the father of a toddler, and therefore knew not to take these things personally.

So, as of 4:30 P.M., the car's diagnosis in indeterminate. The car is still under warranty, so things should work out in the end. And we're getting a rental car tomorrow, so we will not be housebound forever.

And, after four days of antibiotics, the ferrets are fine and dandy. The top picture features Mr. Jeremy and Miss Houdini, in all their feisty glory.

And the second photo, from today, a small milestone. "Baby peeled b'nana by SELF!

And looking back on today, maybe Mommy is not so cranky, after all.