"Carefree" Day

Yesterday afternoon was the doldrums of the winter holiday. Everyone was tired of being home together and doing the same things; Agatha woke up from a too-short nap irritable and cranky; Henry was clinging to me because he has suddenly developed fears about playing alone in his room; and Michael and I were burdened and bored by our household chores. At one point I caught him watching a movie on his computer upstairs while he folded one of the six loads of laundry he did that day. "Enjoying yourself?" I asked frostily-- but keep in mind at the time I was making bean soup, baking bread, reading "I Spy Bunnies" to Agatha for the 43rd time that day and helping Henry do his puzzle book-- simultaneously.

I decided I needed to be more carefree for a change, so we declared today a "Carefree" Day. I put it in quotes because it really means: we are just going to go out and have an adventure, and we don't care if it ruins the nap schedule or makes for a cranky car ride-- we're going to do it anyway. We don't care! We'd be cranky at home, so let's be cranky out!

We went to Longwood Gardens, which was fabulous and beautiful, and of course I forgot the camera (carefree!) so I don't have any pictures, but this is one I found on the net. The one-hour ride down there was fine, and we all had a great time going through the beautiful greenhouses and seeing and smelling the flowers and plants. We ate lunch in the cafe, and then left for home around 1 pm. Agatha fell asleep in the car on the way home.

But wait, there's more! We got home about 2:15 and I was actually able to put Aggie back to sleep in her crib. Henry also fell asleep-- and both kids slept till 4:30 pm. I didn't know what to do with myself; I knitted and watched two episodes of "30 Rock," made pizza and contemplated remodeling the bathrooms. So it really was a carefree day!