Skip Day

My husband and I try to periodically take a "skip day", where I don't schedule work and he takes a vacation day in the middle of the week.  In our busy area, it's fun and definitely has its benefits to do popular attractions on a non-weekend day.  The park we went to today normally has a 30-45 minute wait just for a parking spot and is normally completely crowded.  On a Thursday morning, it was pretty empty, empty enough to hear the birds chirping and to go toddler speed on the trails.  My son had a great time and talked about the "awesome puddles" and the "baby waterfalls and big waterfalls."  A mosquito laden path became a new adventure and mom and dad didn't have to worry about all the weekend activities or waiting to get out of the park or fighting the crowds.  It was a beautiful park and a beautiful day and makes me glad that my job situation has changed where I have the flexibility to take a "skip day".  I think skip days are important for us all to step off the hamster wheel and enjoy the beauty of life arou
nd us.

My son had had a temper tantrum yesterday that had lasted on and off for over an hour of grumpiness.  It involved me asking him to pick his baseball players off the floor because I kept tripping on them and was worried they were going to get broken.  He said, "No" to me and I told him if he didn't pick it up, it was going to get put away for at least a couple of days.  When I followed through with that action he got very upset and started hitting and kicking.  I just held him and told him I was sorry he was grouchy but that's the way things are.

He came home from our trip and asked my husband if he could get them out of the closet.  My husband reminded him of his behavior before and he took it like a good boy.  He knew why he couldn't play with his baseball guys.  He then went on to tell us, "I'm happy, I'm not sad, I'm happy we went to the park today."  It's always nice to get a little positive feedback after a rough parenting day.