Some days take a lot of work. Like today. The morning started with an attempt by David and me to convince Theo that a “Daddy and me” guitar class might be fun. At first he completely refused to go, but after an exhausting battle of wills we got him there (at 9am on a Saturday – not an ideal time slot for a kid who likes his weekends). Despite his initial resistance, he actually enjoyed the class. His teacher was young and hip, with the long hair that Theo thinks is really cool, and he taught him how to play notes for a song by one of his favorites bands, One Republic. When we came home, he practiced it several times. Shortly afterwards, I decided to do some cleaning up in our office closet. As I shifted some art supplies around, I managed to tip a box full of plastic Perler beads all over the floor. Those things can roll and get stuck in the tightest little nooks. But I cleared them up and sealed them tightly in new container.

Later in the day, on a couple of occasions, I didn’t hear my phone ringing when David was calling to ask me or tell me something, leading to misunderstandings and minor arguments that got us both riled up again. Then the two ideas I had for gifts today fell through. By 5:30pm, I was getting flustered. I felt a bit worn out and really just wanted to treat myself to something nice – some new pants actually, as I only have two pairs I like wearing at the moment. My immediate thought was to run over to Out of the Closet, my favorite thrift store to buy something cheap that might cheer me up. But, I’m not supposed to be acquiring things, am I? Well, there was only one solution. If I didn’t want to wear my other pants, I should get rid of them. So I rushed to our closet, grabbed 3 pairs of pants and a couple of problematic t-shirts too and headed for the store. $6 and five donated items later, I have a new pair of cute jeans that I will actually wear. Then I joined my family on the couch for a relaxing evening with pizza and a movie. Not surprisingly perhaps, we watched Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day…