Life doesn’t go the way you plan. I guess I should be grateful for my two small children, because the care of and tending to them just highlights this inevitable basic fact. This afternoon we get everyone suited up for a bike ride – helmets, coats, mittens, jackets, diaper bag, two bikes and a bike trailer. I’m already dreading the massive two hills we are going to have to climb to get to and from our destinations. Ten minutes into the trip Child #1 is being such a Horrid Beast to Child #2 we simply have to turn back (the two kids in the confines of the trailer is like a Baby Thunderdome). She is delivered to her room (crying, whining, howling, eventually snuffling and falling asleep for a much-needed nap) and Ralph goes out with The Boy to run the errands separately.
What I wanted was a bike ride with my husband where we can talk about things – uninterrupted. Bike rides really work for my head- and husband-space. Usually the kids are wonderful and adoring and talk and coo to one another, excited to be in the trailer watching the damp fall terrain whiz by (PT is beautiful this time of year). Not so today. So once again my man and I are sent back to our corners to deal with a child apiece.
One of the ways I know my husband is in a good place is when he teases me. In fact, the one nickname I’ve had in my life that continues to stick – Bird, which my family and a very few close friends call me – came from a pretty excellent public teasing Ralph nailed me with years ago. He has teased me twice today and I love it. I hope we can get through our day and connect in a playful way at the end of the day.