The logical Next, following baby puke in the eyes

I went to the beach yesterday.

I went to the beach not at all in the normal way where you grab a towel, a bathing suit, a cooler and three overstuffed bags of crap if you have kids, but in a different way. 

After a drawn out trip to the grocery store, which required infinitely more energy devoted to keeping my children from becoming lost, stolen, and poisoned from licking the myriad of germs off the shopping cart handle than to thinking through what I actually needed to buy, I treated myself to a drive-thru, fully-iced, bubbly Diet Coke as we exited the parking lot. 

I took a deep breath and appreciated my treat. 

It has been well over a month, maybe even two, since the kids and I have been apart.  It has been more than a month, other than those hours when I am asleep at night, that I have not been on constant call and constantly needed.  The best part to being a stay-at-home-mom, of course, is that I do not have to leave my kids every day.  I do not miss a moment of their young lives.  The worst part is that I don't get to leave them any day, giving me never the chance to miss them and so rarely the chance to be anything other than mommy.  And I think I could be an even better mommy if I could just find five minutes to not be found.  And maybe even something else completely my own, sometimes.  My battery is in dire need of recharge.

I noticed fairly quickly after we pulled away from the grocery store parking lot that the entire crowd of people in my back seat had fallen asleep simultaneously. 

I practically leapt from my seat (soundlessly, of course,) and quickly decided to stretch this miracle for as many blissful minutes as I could get out of it, frozen groceries be damned.  I didn't even care that I sort of had to pee.  Then I drove North and East until I reached our favorite quiet road that borders Lake Michigan. 

The wind blew noisily through all of the open windows and the late-afternoon waves rythmically splashed the shore.  I wondered why I had never done this before, on a random weekday afternoon of just the kids and I, being as how the water is right there, so close to home.  I drove up and down the miles-long road twice, and then all the way home and into the driveway, for more than an hour, before anyone woke up. 

And then as I unpacked my frozen thawed salmon and crushed package of blueberries my daughter figured out how to climb the stairs for the first time, and made it all the way to the top in record time for a baby who had never gone so much as a single step before, and my three-year-old had diarrhea and missed the potty.

I considered going back to the beach.  Maybe we could move there.

Comments

[Cindy]

It looks so peaceful!!

[Crystal]

It looks lovely. I've been around Lake Michigan a number of times and always seem to drive around but never past it.

[Diane]

AND ... you were brilliant enough to have a camera handy. And now your spirit will yearn for that random indulgence. The beach, not the icy Diet Coke. Well ya' know maybe both.

[debra]

Oh, I would love having something like that so close. Take advantage whenever you can. I think water is wonderful for thinking, not thinking, soothing, reflecting....all good things.

[BetteJo]

That's what every stay-at-home mom needs to be able to sit and look at and breathe in for at least 20 minutes a day. Just to remain sane. Good for you!

And it's a beautiful pic!