The Very Bad Thing About a Very Good Day

Yesterday morning, I sat still with my words and just basked in the afterglow of a most excellent daycare day (from the previous day). I was at one with the world, my place within it, the path I was on and life was good. Oh, so good!

Then the day happened.

It started going downhill within ten minutes of the first child walking in the door. My fully trained just-turned-three-year-old stood in the living room and peed her pants. She was so proud to tell me that she had "caught" it with the sleeve of her top and it didn't go all the way down. She was so wrong.

Twenty minutes of blotting, then cleaning the carpet and bathing said child and cleaning the bathroom after her wet clothes and soiled body went from Point A to Point B was not the best start to the day.

Then it got worse.

There was arguing and hitting. Hitting has never been an issue here. And it happened not once, but twice. Not just in the morning, but again after a good, solid afternoon nap.

There was crying. Crying over nothing, as far as my eye could see. Just crying. I don't do crying.

There were personality clashes at every turn. The oldest of the group arrived midway through the day and her habit of just taking what she wants from her younger playmates did not go over well. No one was taking any guff from anyone else and there was discontentment all around.

I had home made turkey soup simmering on the stove all morning. Lunch was easy. This soup has always been a hit in the past so I gave everyone a helping I was sure they could handle. I may as well have offered them fish eyes and frog's ears for the way they "enjoyed" their lunch. Home made turkey soup is liquid gold in our family. It was a tough blow to my already fragile ego when my generous offering was rebuffed.

Nap time would save the day. Right? Maybe not.

Right after nap time, I was scheduled to have an interview with a family who needed some short term daycare for their (turning) one year old son. The months they needed were exactly what I had available. They were referred to me by someone they trusted. It felt perfect.

I spent my quiet hour trying to clean toys without making a sound. I didn't take the quiet I needed to push through the remainder of a very challenging day.

The interview was "okay". Not awful and by no means perfect. The kids were "everywhere" and I am pretty sure if I was the mom of that little boy, I would be thinking that there is no attention left over for anyone else. let alone a precious one year old little person.

Everyone woke up from their naps and very few were 100% rested and happy. Tears and arguing continued. Throughout the interview process.

How could the day go so terribly wrong??? There was a change of dynamics among my children and it wasn't a positive thing. There is the tail end of a cold making its way through the crowd, perhaps the reason tears were so close to the surface. One little three year old is just coming down from a rather euphoric "birthday week" so I think she may have "crash landed" yesterday. And I was crashing down to reality with her.

To go from a near perfect day to one so very opposite within a twenty four hour period was hard. Very hard. Add a few extra challenges to that scenario and I was doomed.

But the opposite of that statement is almost always true. "The very good thing about a very good day ... is that it is usually a better day." Usually.

I will take what I have learned, stir gently and add it into today (and tomorrow and going forward). If this new family chooses me to take care of their child after meeting me under these circumstances I'll know one of two things. Either I held up well under pressure or they are desperate.

We'll see what today brings. One day at a time!