The Nap

The gods smiled upon us last night as we slumbered peacefully, the night before school starts, only having to get up once to let Roy out to potty (I swear, he gets better and better every day!).

We were well-rested and barely had any sleep to rub from our eyes when the alarm went off sooner than it had all summer. Well, besides the lovely smoke alarm deciding it's batteries were worn out just before the alarm went off (how do smoke alarms know that it's the middle of the early morning and therefore the best time to beeeeeeep?), that is.

Into the shower went each boy . . . and exactly five minutes later they were out and getting their school clothes on before rushing down to the kitchen, sitting at the table and hounding me, "we want our breakfast now, Mom!", as I was packing their lunches.

I can't remember a "first day of school" where they were more excited. They have been counting down the days (and so have I) since the 4th of July as if they were anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus. Other than leaving their new puppy for the day, nothing could have kept them home today. Not rain, or sleet, or snow.

Of course the morning wasn't without a little drama.

After being kissed from head to toe, having their straps on their backpacks checked for the hundredth time and making sure their zippers were up, they ran down the hill to the bus stop. I closed the door behind them, clutching my camera and breathing a sigh of relief until . . . I heard pounding up the front steps and the door was shoved open.

"We missed the bus!" one of them declared.

"It was pulling away from the corner right as we got down there", the other chimed in.

Not wanting to wake my sleeping daughter and drive her royal grumpiness to the boys school, which is currently being remodeled and thus the drop-off situation is anything but ideal and sure to be complete chaos, I pushed their little behinds out the door again and told them to give it another try. I knew that there was no way they were late, as I'd paid close attention to the clock all morning and I figured the bus they saw was a different bus going to another school. So, I told them to come back home if nobody was at the bus stop and they weren't picked up in five minutes.

They didn't come back.

The school didn't call either.

So, either they are camping out at the corner all day, or they are safely at school, catching up with the friends they didn't see all summer and causing all sorts of trouble. I went with the later and I shut my front door yet again, this time busying myself with cleaning the kitchen until I was sure they were where they needed to be. And then I listened, and I didn't hear a sound.

I peeked in Katie's room and noticed that her position hadn't changed at all. I could see the gentle rise and fall of her body as it still remained deeply asleep.

I peeked in Roy's crate. He too, was enjoying whatever puppy dream he was having as his little body twitched in blissful sleep.

Brett was at work. The boys were gone. Every other living thing under my roof was sleeping . . .

So I climbed in my bed and pulled up the covers tight under my chin. I curled into my favorite sleeping position, took a few deep breaths and didn't wake up until forty minutes later.

And the day has been perfect ever since.

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A thousand thanks and armloads of gratitude to Rock the Cradle, who nominated my post Balancing Act for an August Perfect Post, Foggy City Mommy, who liked Missing and Oh The Joys for thinking I am nice!