Play Day

Although I love a good playdate, I'm always reluctant to plan vacation days from school around or dependent upon classmates and friends. It's a tactic that can easily backfire as family visits, doctor appointments, or sudden illness bump out even the most carefully planned playdate. I've learned the hard way not to rely on friends to provide our children with mutual entertainment during a school break. 

But the stars happen to have aligned for everyone today, and The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot all had playdates. The Girl and The Tot went over to a friends' house in the morning, while The Boy's good friend came over for Lego and other 9-year-old boy pursuits in the afternoon. 

We capped off the day with a 3-kid trip to Trader Joe's, where The Tot proceeded to throw a massive temper tantrum fueled, in part, by hunger and fatigue. 

New Docs

Today was a relatively uneventful day: I took The Girl to camp, and The Boy and The Tot to their respective 6-year and 2-year well-child check-ups at the pediatrician. Our pediatric practice has gone through some staffing changes recently. Our favorite doctor, Dr. Shah, left to take a fellowship at U. Chicago. We met one of the new doctors, Dr. Deitch, at today's visit. The Boy and The Tot got shots, which pleased no one in the room.

We stopped at K-Mart to look for watercolor sets, got a new Bakugan lunch box for The Boy, and then went to lunch at Potbelly before picking up The Girl and her friend from camp.

CBA

Yesterday, I had a craving for a really good, but somewhat inexpensive, lunch. I also had a bunch of little errands to run at destinations within close proximity of each other, but nowhere near our neighborhood. I picked up The Girl from preschool, and we headed southeast to Lincoln Park. The Tot fell asleep in the car on the way to pick up The Girl, so I was able to run a quick in-and-out errand on the way to lunch.

We had lunch at CBA on Armitage. This is probably not a destination for anyone not immediately in the neighborhood or as a post-class lunch spot after Wiggleworms class, but the pull of The Wrigley Fielder draws me in a couple of times each year. The Girl wanted something with salami on it (she's a weird kid), so she got the E-Town Express, which she loved. The Tot commandeered half my Wrigley Fielder. Total for 2 bagel sandwiches, 2 chips and a bottle of Nantucket Nectar was about $15.

After lunch, we ran errands: Gap Kids for returns, next door to the busiest CVS I've ever seen for postage stamps, back into the car to the Carter's Outlet off Clybourn and next door to Sur la Table for Mother's Day treats. We got back home about 2 p.m. and left the TV off, making chocolate chip-M&M cookies instead.

The ballet-soccer Monday Mania wasn't as bad as it has been, although I made the mistake of walking to ARCC, over to school to watch The Boy's soccer practice, and then back home again, so The Boy and The Girl were pretty much exhausted.

Jammin with Julie, Coffee, Errands

We started the day off by seeing the drive-through teller at Midwest Bank to make both deposits personal and deposits for CFC. The Boy was not happy about sitting in the car for 20 minutes while I took care of my business, but he changed his tune when the teller enclosed three sets of lollies for the kids. Our main bank is out-of-state, but I've been so pleased with how incredibly nice the folks at Midwest Bank are, I bring them my local banking business.

The Tot and I started the new session of Jammin with Julie today. Oddly enough, The Girl chose to skip preschool, go to the full day of MDO, and come along to music class with us. With only The Boy to drop off at school, we made it to music class well in advance of its 9 a.m. start time, which is a departure from our usual method, which is to arrive 5 minutes late and try not to disrupt the flow of the class.

While The Girl is tall and looked Amazonian next to all the 1-2-year-olds, even The Tot looked big against the newest crop of babies in the class. It's weird to think of him at the older end of the age range. When I asked him if he wanted to jam with Julie, he nodded vigorously, which is amazing for a child whose standard response to any question is, "no." He listened with rapt attention, tried to touch the animal-puppets, helpfully put away the shakers, chased bubbles, and didn't want to go at the end of class. To me (and I think to Miss Julie), this means that music class is a success!

You, too, can Jam with Julie in the neighborhood (at Irving Park Lutheran Church) on Wednesdays and Fridays, now through April 22, 2009. Call Julie Helenius directly at 773-267-7607 or e-mail her at jtjujubee@aol.com. The 16-week session is $192, which represents a bit of a price break over the Old Town School's Wiggleworms classes ($240 for a 16-week session), which are similar to Julie's classes.

After music class, we schlepped over to CFC so The Girl could play with her friends, attend another music class (this time with Ms. Andrea, whose instrument of choice is a viola), and practice writing letters. Meanwhile, I spent the first hour of MDO visiting with my friends, drinking coffee, eating muffins and trying to divert The Tot from nursing.*

We ran to Target to buy a new iron and ran into a mom from The Boy's school as well as Becky and Baby G. The Tot had great fun helping me push the buttons on the elevator, pick out storage bins for The Dad, and eat Sour Airheads. Then we went home, had lunch, and he took a nap.





* It has been 20+ months and I'm still nursing this kid! I am a fan of breastfeeding and even extended breastfeeding, but this is ridiculous. Chicago is pretty pro-breastfeeding, even more than it was when The Boy was a baby, but nursing a 6-month-old in public is understandable and even cute. Nursing a gigantic toddler? Notsomuch (for me).

Mission Aborted

That was a disaster. A friend once said about life with two kids: "Some days work, some days don't." Unfortunately, today wasn't a day that worked.

We ran errands in the morning--the Recycling Center in North Park Village, Family Fruit Market to re-stock the empty larder--with the promise that after The Tot's nap, I'd take everyone on the train downtown to see The Dad's office.

It was a non-starter. We ran to catch (and missed) the L, which freaked The Girl out. She had one of her signature panic attacks: crying, trembling, and refusal of the usual comfort measures. Poor love. I tried to get her to calm down as much as I was able, but it was difficult with the noise of the highway, trying to keep The Tot from going over the edge of the platform, and reining in The Boy's bossiness. The Girl's panic ebbed a bit once we got on a south-bound train, but started again as soon as we descended into the tunnel at Belmont. She asked to go home repeatedly.

What could I do?

We got off the train at Logan Square and waited for the next north-bound train. The Boy plead with The Girl not to be scared, but it was no use. Going back home was not a happy decision for The Boy; on the 3-stop train ride back to Irving Park, I had two crying kids in place of the one I had previously. The Girl was still freaking out about the train ride and The Boy was upset that we turned around. It was the longest 10-minute train ride of my life as everyone in the car around us turned to stare.

By the time I got them all home, I was so tired that I admit to using the TV as entertainment/babysitter. I plopped them all in front of Scooby-Doo on HBO so that we could all recover. The Dad ended up working late, so I had them all in bed by 7 p.m.

School's Out for the Summer!

At least for The Boy. The Girl still has 3 days left of MDO. This morning, however, The Boy went to school. And The Girl, The Baby, and I had a full day of errands. The timing of our day worked out nicely with the weather: we ran errands in the rain and then came home to play in the backyard when the sun came out.

First, I loaded up the car with our recyclables and headed to the Recycling Center at North Park Village. The Girl helped me, while I tried to throw bottles in one-handed with The Baby under the other arm (lest he wander into the parking lot).

That finished, we headed up to Schaumburg. First to pick up The Dad's birthday present at REI. And then to have lunch and get a replacement at IKEA. The Girl ate all of her kids' mac & cheese, while The Baby concentrated his efforts on his mashed potatoes. The Girl asked to go into Smalland, so I dropped her off. The Baby and I wandered around for a bit, picking up this and that. We checked out, grabbed our replacement from the returns department, and circled back upstairs to pick up The Girl from Smalland. She had a great time, although she reported watching "a scary movie" in the center. (It turned out to be an episode of Scooby Doo). The downstairs cafe is under construction, so no end-of-IKEA ice cream. We got a chocolate bar instead.

We picked up The Boy (and all of his stuff!) at school, and ran one last errand -- to pick up our pre-ordered, subsidized (by the city) rain barrel (ah, the irony...) from the Crafty Beaver on Montrose. When we got home, it was like unpacking the clown car -- there was so much in there.

The Boy, The Girl, and The Baby played outside -- a neighbor gifted us a plastic Little Tykes picnic table, adding to our collection of backyard plastics -- while I cleaned up part of the basement (the part within earshot of the backyard) and tidied up the lawn.

Just Another Manic Monday

I got The Girl to school this morning, and took The Baby with me to run errands. First, we went to the bank, and then over to the new Disney II to register The Girl for pre-K. The Baby was very interested in the junior high kids currently there (and they, at least the girls, were pretty interested in him as well).

We had lunch at our usual pre-Treasure Store spot: the Vienna Beef Cafe and each had a hot dog and fries. Then we hit the Treasure Store, which was kind of a bust. We went back to pick The Girl and her friend from school, dropped off the friend at her house, and got on the road for the long haul to Naperville, to fetch The Boy from Grandma-and-Grandpa's house.

And that's where the problems started. I'm sure everyone knows the saying about Chicago: There are two seasons in Chicago: Winter and Construction. If there was construction along our route, The Great White Moose and I managed to find it. We got stuck in the construction along the Oakbrook toll plaza, the 3-lanes-down-to-1 problems along 22nd Street in Oakbrook, and the repaving right by the I-355 on-ramp. We also had to take a detour getting to Grandma's house when I realized that the Bailey Road bridge was out. And throughout all this, The Baby screamed bloody murder. My nerves were fried by the time we arrived at Grandma's house.

We played for about 45 minutes at Grandma-and-Grandpa's house, and then they took us to dinner at The Patio. The Girl and I each had 1/3-lb. cheeseburgers (and The Girl ate most of hers!), while The Boy had a hotdog and fries and The Baby sort of had a grilled cheese and fries. Then we got back on the road to come home. I took I-55 to the Kennedy on the way back, and it was a good choice because we made fantastic time coming home. We got back within 45 minutes. The Baby was crying again towards the end, but it was only the last 3 minutes or so of the trip.

Sunday Lie-In

The Boy is an early riser. The Girl, thankfully, is not. Without their big brother around to wake them up, The Girl slept until 8:45 and The Baby until 9 a.m., so The Dad and I enjoyed a bit of a lie-in. Then The Girl, The Baby, and I got dressed and walked up to the park to go to the first Farmer's Market of the season. Unfortunately, with the cool spring and high gas prices, it was a bit of a bust in terms of actual produce. But the three of us split a giant Snickerdoodle from Ideal Bakery and an organic raspberry Zota soda from another vendor. Then we spent 45 minutes or so on the playground.

We spent the rest of the day doing stuff around the house and running errands. The Girl and I went to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods for groceries. Later, The Girl, The Baby, and I went to Home Depot to pick out plants and get ant killer (we tried using the environmentally and kid-friendly vinegar, but it didn't work) for The Dad, who stayed home to sand down the garage (I later painted it). The Baby and The Girl played in the backyard.

Chores

With the price of gas over $4/gallon, we stayed in town for the 3-day weekend. And spent much of it doing much-needed chores around the house. The Boy even got in on the action, by helping The Dad wash the windows in the front of the house. (The Baby helped, too, by letting them do it.)

Our big outings of the weekend were to Home Depot, Whole Foods (to stock the larder), and Chicago City North 14 movie theater in Logan Square (to see Speed Racer). The Boy was really into the movie, which was like live-action anime with garish colors. The Girl was kind of bored, given how many times she had to go potty during the 2-hour film (seven).

It was a nice weekend of family time.

Closer to Home

I had a very full day yesterday. While The Boy was at school, The Girl, The Baby, and I met our friends Cheryl and Amelia at the Curio Cafe for coffee/breakfast. I love that place. They are so nice and accommodating of small children, and the food is really good. I had the pretzel bun with housemade strawberry cream cheese, while The Girl got the kiddie pancakes and The Baby had an egg and toast. He squawked up a storm when I didn't give him enough of my coffee. Afterwards, we walked around the block and the next block over, letting the babies (Amelia is 2 weeks older than The Baby) explore a bit. The Girl wanted to hold Amelia's hand, but she asserted that she was a "big" kid too and could walk alone.

Afterwards, we went back home so that The Baby could take a nap. The Girl did an art project; I started laundry (it's neverending in this house). Then we went to Home Depot for a replacement set of Allen wrenches, and to pick up The Boy from school. After fetching The Boy, we made amazingly good time down to Lincoln Park, to get our hair cut at Snippets. I got my hair cut, too. Total cost for 3 cuts and tip? $80. A bit pricy for a kid cut, but not bad for a bill that includes an adult's shampoo, cut, and style as well. And we all got lollipops for being good in the stylists' chair.

Je suis fou

I've never met little Remy Lichtenstein, but whoever he is, he's well-dressed. Yesterday, I picked up a few more of his castoffs at the Treasure Store -- most of it is European-made Oilily or Petit Bateau in excellent condition (save the name labels stuck onto the waist/neckbands). And the Treasure Store guy put the "children's clothing reduced to 50 cents/piece" sign up right before I checked out, so I got a huge bag of stuff for less than $16. My neighbor calls the Treasure Store "retail therapy." I know I talk about the Treasure Store a lot, but it combines three of my favorite elements: shopping, adventure (especially when accompanied by 3 kids), and fantastic bargains.

Speaking of adventure... as if shopping the Treasure Store in late afternoon with 3 small kids wasn't adventurous enough, I took them all to Wicker Park's Piece pizza afterward. I've said before that I often find myself in situations where I'm the only person with small children in a given establishment. Maybe the problem is not my children, but my taste/proximity. I often go to Wicker Park because it's easy to get to. But it just isn't a kid-friendly or kids' neighborhood the way Lincoln Square is. Still, I was there yesterday and while our destination was actually Penny's Noodles, with the chilly weather, no stroller, and three tired kids, we stopped at Piece instead because it was 4 blocks closer than Penny's and a friend in our MDO co-op had recommended it.

As soon as I walked in the door, I realized my mistake, but we were already inside and I was tired. I even said to the host, "Oh, I we are so not in your target demographic." They were pretty nice about it and lead us back to a table above the main floor. Along the way, we passed another baby and a stack of highchairs, both of which were somewhat reassuring. Still, last night, The Boy and The Girl were the only kids in the place (the couple with the baby had only one and she was definitely a baby, about 6-months-old or so). The upper-level banquettes were set up to look out over the main floor through "windows" in the wall at the end of each booth. This amused both The Boy and The Girl. The Baby couldn't seem to get an edge in.

Our server was pretty nice; he showed The Boy where the bathroom was when he had to go. Piece serves New Haven-style pizza. I am not a pizza connoisseur (I didn't eat it at all for about 10 years straight), so I don't understand the differences between it and Chicago thin crust, but everyone, including The Girl (who also doesn't like pizza) ate it. I ordered a small, with fresh basil and goat cheese on one half, and plain cheese on the other. Between the four of us (and three trips to the bathroom!), we managed to finish it all. Since I had to drive home, I didn't sample any of Piece's microbrews. The pizza, tax, and tip came to just over $20.

A rare day at home

Well, we spent most of the day at home. The Girl accompanied me and The Boy to his school this morning, and then we all stayed to do an art project. The other mom had only brought enough supplies (terra cotta flower pots) for the class, so The Girl had to do mosaics on squares of paper instead. She was fine with that for awhile, but there's only so many little squares that a just-3-year-old can glue on rectangles of poster board without getting, well, bored. She did really well, lasting about 2 hours.

When we got home, we puttered. Had a snack, cleaned up the house (The Girl is an amazing cleaner-upper), did laundry, reorganized a few rooms (I re-arrange my house on a near-weekly basis), and made cookie bars. The Dad took The Girl and picked up The Boy from school. They went to MicroCenter to pick up a cable (to complement the 3,452 cables we already have), and then came home.

The kids all played outside for a bit, and then we changed and walked up to McDonald's for an early dinner before tee-ball practice at Athletic Field Park. Practice was on the diamond, so the kids got covered in brown baseball dust. The Girl spent much of practice, face down in the dust, making swimming motions in it. Yuck. The Boy mostly played, until he didn't like the drills the parent-coaches ran. The Baby walked around the field, picking up all the balls and throwing them 1-2 feet.

The Dad walked over to the field and met us, and took the kids home after practice. I was going to attend Athletic Field Park's advisory council meeting, but I mistakenly thought the meeting time was half an hour before it was, so I caught up to everyone else on the walk home.

Pink polka dot pajamas

This morning, after I dropped The Boy off at school, I took The Baby and The Girl with me to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, a bagel and a couple of donuts, and then to Home Depot. All while wearing my pink polka dot pajama bottoms (and The Dad's polarfleece). I was styling. My fashion standards have slipped so far that this is actually not the worst combination that the counter clerks at Dunkin Donuts have seen me wear.

At Home Depot, The Baby and The Girl rode in one of the racecar carts. The Baby loves sitting up like a big kid and steering the wheel like his big sister (or brother). I dislike pushing those giant things, especially for errands like today's where I needed a single thing that I could have easily carried without a cart if I had been there on my own. But the kids enjoy it and it makes shopping with small children much nicer.

The Girl went to MDO today. The Baby took a nap, had lunch, and accompanied me to on our weekly Treasure Store trip. We ran into my Treasure Store stalkers. It's funny, because I don't always go on the same day each time, but I always see the same people there over and over. Half of them are from the co-op.

The Girl and The Boy went over to their friends' house after school, while I took The Baby to Target for such exciting things as dishwasher cubes and deodorant for The Dad. When we got home, The Dad took The Baby, The Girl, and The Boy outside to play with the neighbors while I made dinner.

Busy, Busy, Busy

One of these days, my life will slow down. But if I am honest, I am not sure I want it to, as I generally enjoy being busy. However, there are some times when it's just too much.

Today, I saw the dentist, got yogurt at Whole Foods, bought clothes at the Salvation Army flea market event, took The Girl to ballet class, had a coffee date with The Girl and her friends and their mothers, and took two little girls to the park -- all before noon.

We met the boys at the park, and I took The Baby and The Girl (and her friend) to meet our friends at the Curio Cafe, while The Dad and The Boy walked up to the Golden Nugget for a reprise of last night (for The Boy, anyway). I got the plato tipico at Curio, and it was really good. Afterward, I attempted to go to the organic plant sale at Kilbourn Park, but the sale had closed for the day by the time we got there.

The Best Laid Plans

Today, I had planned to take advantage of my relative proximity to my morning's destination/activity (playgroup at Becky's house) and walk there. But fatigue, timing, the weather, and a to-do list a mile long conspired against me and I ended up driving the 1.3 miles to Albany Park. The Baby, The Girl and I had a good time with our friends, and we stayed until it was time to pick up The Boy from school.

On the way, I stopped back home to pick up the mail, although of course there was nothing there from Disney 2. The Girl fell asleep in the car on the way, and although I had volunteered to string fish from the ceiling, I bailed on that plan in favor of letting The Girl get a good sleep. She did, and by the time she woke up, it was too late to go back.

I made up for my gas guzzling of the morning by taking The Boy, The Girl, and The Baby to McDonald's on foot for dinner, since The Dad was working late. We then walked down the street to Athletic Field Park for the kids' Tee Ball game.

It was our first "game," which consisted of letting all of the kids on each team (we had to "give" four of our players to the other team to make two teams of eight) go up to bat and run the bases while the other team tried to catch and/or throw the ball to their teammates. Good thing they're not too serious about it. I can imagine a bunch of 3, 4, and 5-year-olds in hysterics over "losing." The Girl spent much of the game time in the bathroom at the fieldhouse, singing loudly and deliberating over whether or not she needed to pee. In fact, the game was over by the time we got back to the field.

After the kids went to bed, I left them all with The Dad and ran out to do a few errands that took no time at all in my childless state: The Book Cellar to pick up an order (Sears' The Vaccine Book). While I was there, I also grabbed our book club's selection for next month, my friend Jen's boyfriend's book, The Third Coast: Sailors, Strippers, Fishermen, Folksingers ... of the Great Lakes. And then I went to Trader Joe's. On the way home, I nearly got clocked by a fire engine screaming down Irving Park Road (on the wrong side of the divider) on its way to an emergency, and that was with paying close attention. I got over right away, but it was the second fire engine I saw, and about the fifth moving emergency vehicle with its sirens/lights on that had passed through the Irving Park Road/Lincoln Avenue/Damen Avenue intersection. About ten seconds later, a paddywagon passed by as well. I wonder what happened?

Vienna Beef

Yesterday, I took The Baby to the Vienna Beef Factory Store & Cafe for lunch. It's one of our new favorite destinations because it's on the way to the Treasure Store, it's fast, and we can split an order of 2 Chicago-style dogs and fries for $4.25. The Baby loves hot dogs. Perhaps because it's at the factory, the dogs often have unsealed-at-the-ends casing, which actually works out well for me, because that is the part that The Baby has the most trouble eating, and I can just peel it off.

He sat in a regular chair pulled up to the table, although two people offered to get me a highchair for him. I assured them that he'd be fine in a chair, and he was. He looked so little and so grown-up at the same time, sitting there in his rockstar guitar t-shirt, baggy Boden jeans, and baby Cons.

We brought the paper boat of fries with us, and he ate them happily while sitting in his stroller at the Treasure Store as I looked through the racks for jeans and pants for me. I ended up with a pair of Buffalo by David Bitton jeans, bright green J. Crew pants (that I plan to cut down into Bermuda shorts), and pale green Limited dress pants (with nobody inside 'em!*). All for a mere $13. By the time we got upstairs, however, The Baby was done with the Treasure Store. He was only slightly impressed with the original Fisher-Price, made in the U.S.A., plastic horses ball I found in the housewares aisle.

The rest of my day was fairly busy as well: I volunteered to prep art projects for hanging for St. Bart's art fair on Friday, so I spent the morning stringing fishing line into different fish art pieces for hanging. I took all three kids to Target after school to buy new Big Girl Underwear for The Girl. I did laundry. And I went to book club at Elephant Thai (my entree was great, but I didn't really like the chive dumplings) and the Chocolate Shoppe (weird service, good ice cream -- I tried about 4 different kinds before settling on maraschino cherry) in Edgebrook (cute neighborhood, seemed more like Evanston than the city).



* Does anyone else recite snippets of Dr. Suess books in their head at odd moments? The reference above is to his story, "What Was I Scared Of?)

Birthday Butterflies

Today is The Girl's birthday. She's three. How did that happen? I had always pictured myself as a Mom of Boys, but she has been such a joy in my life. I can't imagine not having some girlie in our lives.

In honor of her birthday, we "hosted" playgroup at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. I had thought that because their Butterfly Ball is tomorrow and the museum will be closed, it would be fairly quiet in there. But I was wrong. The school groups were notably absent and it was not crowded, but they were working on the installation of their new special exhibit, so it was loud in the Hands-On-Habitat. Which kept scaring The Baby.

I did get to catch up with my friend Sarah and her little ones -- we talked about schools and real estate, of course. Her husband and his business partner are building a mixed-use green building adjacent to Giddings Plaza in Lincoln Square.

After the museum, we ran a quick couple of errands in Lincoln Park: exchanging a broken table leg at Pottery Barn Kids and buying butter and eggs at Treasure Island to make a pink birthday cake for The Girl:

Rainy Days and Mondays

Today, it rained, and The Baby had a cold. I took The Boy to school, and then stopped at "the ham store" with The Girl for groceries on the way home. Later, on the way to bring The Girl to school, I stopped off at the dry cleaners to drop my new finds off to be cleaned, and pick up last week's bags. Except for a 3-minute stop at the Crafty Beaver (who came up with that name? must have been a Wisconsinite or Minnesotan) later in the afternoon to get Closetmaid brackets, that was the extent of my industry for today. Instead, The Baby took a nap and I puttered around the house.

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, we did nearly all of our errands on foot today. The Boy came home from school yesterday with a fever, so he stayed "home" an extra day to ensure that he was sufficiently recovered. A little sunshine (such as it was) and fresh air certainly can speed that process, too.

In the morning, we loaded up the stroller and walked in a large loop to the dry cleaner, post office, and CVS. Our local post office, the Daniel J. Dolyn station, has gotten a facelift since I was last there. The clerk helping me was still a curmudgeon, but the office itself looks nicer. I prefer to use the automated postal centers whenever possible, but they are not set up to accept media mail, and I was mailing a book to my sister-in-law in Seattle. In October, The Boy, The Girl, and The Baby are getting a new cousin!

I had prescriptions to fill at CVS and after 2 hours of pushing around the e3, I was ready for lunch and a nap. Unfortunately, the only person who got a nap was The Baby. The rest of us waited out the rain-that-wasn't as slugs on the couch.

When The Baby woke up, we loaded back into the stroller and up to McDonald's to meet our friends for a quick pre-teeball dinner, and then over to Athletic Field Park for teeball practice. I never really played softball as a kid (my mother was pretty flaky about park district sign-ups when I was a child), but I found myself itching to get a mitt and get out on the field during today's practice. Instead, I played in the dirt with Kathy, the younger sister of one of the kids' teammates -- until she and The Girl dumped themselves behind first base to do the same -- and tried to keep The Baby from grabbing the ball off the tee. The Dad met us and walked us home.

After the kids were in bed, I ran errands by myself in the car: Cost Plus for wine, Whole Foods for yogurt, and Border's for a parenting book. Being able to concentrate on a single task without interruption for 20 minutes at a time while shopping was hugely revitalizing.