When Emily started kindergarten, all those years ago, this rule-following mom read the school handbook from cover to cover.  Our school administrators (whom I love dearly) gently, or not so gently, discourgaed parents from scheduling appointments during school hours.  So I didn’t.  Until this year when it all came down to free babysitting.

Emily has homework most nights so it’s no longer practical to run errands after school, not that I ever run errands with three kids by choice.  And for a second-grader, Steven has a bit to do too.  And there’s Lauren.  She’s in a sweetheart stage once again but tired after a full day of kindergarten.  It’s our fifth academic year at our school, but it just occurred to me that I’m the parent.  I can take my child out of school if necessary.  I have to do what’s best for our family when life happens.  Why take two along for the ride when I could just take Steven during school hours?  Lesson learned.

I’m learning to go with the flow, that’s the other lesson I’m learning.  And it only took thirty-eight years.  Well, I’ve always been able to go with the flow, just not with a gracious heart.  I’d smile on the outside but the smile would end there.    I like my ducks in a row and I very much like knowing what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen and how it’s going to happen, thank you very much.

They say practice makes perfect.  Let’s just say I’ve had plenty of practice being flexible this week and last.  Who am I kidding? Being a parent for ten years will teach flexibility, if nothing else.

Steven’s glasses broke on Thursday.  And there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.  It was the day of big sister’s and little sister’s Girl Scouts so we couldn’t get the frames fixed after school.  After Girl Scouts, Steven was unusually grouchy, wanting to go to bed without dinner even.  Vomiting began within a few hours but only lasted until midnight.  Not bad for the stomach bug.   There would be no going anywhere Friday because, you know, you gotta wait 24 hours after the last bout of vomit.  Or is it 48 hours?  I really don’t know.  I should, because the handbook.

Anyway, Saturday was World Thinking Day with the Girl Scouts.  Afterward, the five of us went to lunch at our favorite spot in Redmond, if you count a taco bus as “going to lunch.”  I do.

We didn’t exactly run out of time to get the glasses fixed.  It’s just that three kids were busy all day and were done with it all. The eyewear shop is closed Sunday and Monday.

Normally I would freak out over Steven not wearing glasses for five days, fearing his vision would be further damaged.  But there was nothing I could do.  So I didn’t.

I’m not usually this chill.  But something about being sick for so long, and not being able to do a thing about it, has taught me the fine art of chilling out.  The cold, by the way, it turned out to be a sinus infection.  All of the Sudafed in the world wouldn’t have helped.  That’s another story for another day but it’s too boring to write about.

Today is Tuesday.  Steven and I butted heads all morning before school.  At one point he was literally on the ground, kicking.  A flashback to toddlerhood if there ever was one.  We were almost late.  And it was my turn to help with Sight Words first thing.  The plan was for me to come for Sight Words and then check Steven out of school to run to Woodinville to the eyewear shop.  But the student teacher needed to film her lesson.   And that was okay.  I couldn’t have cared less that I came to school for nothing.  I totally remember student teaching and it’s requirements.  I wasn’t feeling put out at all.  I just went home, played with Chloe, worked on a Bible Study and finished my morning coffee.  I couldn’t have asked for a better and more focused 45 minutes.  Just knowing I had to turn around and get back to school to pick up Steven did the trick.  Thank you, God.  This is not typical Nicole behavior.

It was snowing when I picked Steven up.  Not enough to stick, but enough to fill our hearts with wonder.  By the time I delivered Steven and his glasses to the eyewear shop, we were both calm, enjoying each other’s company even.

And I would need to be calm and cool.  Our favorite technician, Katherine, could tell Steven’s glasses didn’t accidentally break.  Sigh.  The Holy Spirit and mama intuition is telling me that he’s angry that he’s different.  Little Nicole hated her hearing aids for the same reason.  Grown up Nicole knows it really doesn’t matter.  You have to do what you have to do to see or hear.  Now is the time to wear glasses, anyway, the bigger and bolder the better.  It’s hard to explain to an eight-year-old who is still learning that God loves him and doesn’t want him to be the same.  In fact, God sets us apart on purpose.  We are uniquely made and he calls us his own.  It hurts watching my son learn this one, but learn it he must.  We all need to be reminded of this painful yet life-giving lesson from time to time.  I know I do.

I’m not sure where I was going with this.  Once again this ADHD mind of mine has gone walking.  Anyway, I’ve got to get out of here.  The school bell will ring in about twenty minutes.  I need to bring the Smith Brother’s milk in from the box on the front porch and put Chloe in her crate before I bundle up and walk the half-mile to school.