Day with MawMaw

The other day my mother-in-law sent me a message that she had today off & wondered if she came down could I use the help. You bet I could! I have a scrapbooking retreat at the end of the month. Unfortunately my normal habit is to wait till the last minute to get things done. I have never really enjoyed the stress of procrastination and really wanted to change that habit when I had kids. I never want to put undo stress on them for just being kids while I am trying to do something that could have & should have been done earlier. So...I was thrilled that Linda was coming down. I have really been trying to do a little here & there to prepare for my retreat but having a whole day could knock out a lot on my to-do list. One step closer to not stressing everyone out next week.

Needless to say I was glad when she arrived this morning. While I was busy doing laundry, cleaning up the kitchen, taking care of a few other household items and then my retreat to-do list the kids were having a blast with MawMaw. Throughout the day I heard squeals, laughter, an occasional cry or whine but mostly excitement in my kids voices. The day could only have been topped with appearance of Grandad. A few times I asked Linda if she was tired but she was hanging in there. She did say she would probably feel it tomorrow as she got in & out of the car for work. I think that comment came from what Ella described to her daddy at supper as, "MawMaw threw me." That wasn't a bad thing. I'm thinking she must have tossed her up in the air or onto her bed. Both of those things my kids love (really any kind of movement makes my kids happy). MawMaw & the kids did slow down for a movie & a morning snack of popcorn & raisins. Believe it or not they lasted through most of the movie before they were ready to go play again. Lunch & rest time also provided Linda with some down time.

One amazing thing happened while she was here today. My kids came to the gate of my Creative Memories room like they always do when I am trying to get work done, but this time they didn't cry & whine for me. They said hello, laughed, even knocked it over one time but never was it fussing to come into my room or general unhappiness. I think that was partly because they were having such a great time with MawMaw & I hope the other part is they are just getting older and can handle it better. I so hope so.

As the day comes to a close I am thankful my kids had time with their MawMaw. I am thankful Linda chose to spend her day off with the kids & helping me out. I am thankful for the huge amount of progress done on my retreat so I'm not stressing out next week. I'm thankful that I am not too old to change some bad habits. Finally I am thankful for my kids growing up & being able to see me working without getting upset. God is good to me!