ideal

I had the kind of day today that I should have more often.

I'm not saying it was flawless, or that Liam was a perfect angel the whole time. But it was good. He was as good as an 18-month-old should be and I felt today like a really good mom. (I am not trying to start a pity party but all moms and dads know these ups and downs. Some days, you just know you could be better.)

Gabe came home early for lunch so we could switch possession of the car. I drove him back to work and I went straight to Joker's so Liam could let out some of his toddler energy. He went straight to the rocking horse he loves so much, played a bit in the Little Tikes car, and tried to climb up the slide several times, slipping around in his socks. While there, some big kid bully tried having a mean staring contest with him, which I'll describe in another post so I don't soil this one, but Liam got over it way faster than I did and soon had the whole toddler corner all to himself.

When we left Joker's it was lunchtime so we went to Sam's for some pizza. Liam LOVES pizza. He got a little antsy while we were waiting so I took him out of the high chair (I forgot to bring a snack to keep him busy while our food cooked) and he had fun watching himself good around in the mirror. Once our mushroom pizza was ready he happily ate with little mess and waved at some other patrons nearby. He was tired and rubbing his eyes so when we got back to the car I considered going home for a nap or continuing our outing, and decided to finish the errands so we could pick Gabe up on time from work.

In the five minutes it took to drive from Sam's to Walmart, Liam was fast asleep so I sat in the car with the radio running until he woke up. We did our groceries- it was CHAOS in there so it took us almost an hour and I felt the same as Liam acted, but we munched on a few Goldfish crackers to distract us.

From there we went to the post office and Liam danced in line, amusing the ladies in front of us. When we were done there we got to Gabe's work just in time to pick him up.

Perfection, in timing of the day's activities and in that we got out of the house for a really good chunk of the day. Perfection, in that I felt like a good mom, getting time for Liam and myself to do the things we needed to do- together. Perfection, in that I felt like if he had the words, he would have told me, "Mom, I had a really fun time today." And that's just what I need.