Simmering Down

Good morning!

Yesterday was an exhausting day. There wasn’t one thing that made it that way (until the one thing), just lots of little things that added up. 

Ina and I walked in the door from work and did the usual dinner prep/playtime routine with some naked potty training/gummy bear bribery added in the mix. I chop an onion and then help Ina find where a puzzle piece goes. I brown the meat, Ina runs to the bathroom screaming, “GUMMY BEAR!” I cut up the peppers and then barely swoop my arms under Ina’s head in time to prevent it from crashing on the floor.

You know, the usual.

I had just sat down, after taking the stuffed peppers out of the oven and popping the roasted cauliflower in, so thankful for the first night in a while to sit and do nothing when my phone rang. It was Dan.

“Hey do you want to do me a big favor?"

I knew what it was before he said anything, because Ina had found his wallet on the couch and had tried to empty its contents while I was making dinner. 

He ran out of gas. He works 45 minutes away. He doesn’t have any money. The gas station attendant refused to take a credit card over the phone.

I had just changed into my pajamas, Ina was mostly naked, and I had just put dinner in the oven. I did not want to get in the car and drive for an hour and a half. I wanted to eat dinner and go to bed.

I was mad. Like, really mad, and the more I drove the more mad I got. I knew that this wasn’t something to get upset about, everyone makes mistakes like this, and to be honest, I am the queen of those types of mistakes. But telling myself that didn’t make me any less mad. Neither did singing songs to Ina -B-I-N-G-O, Five Little Speckled Frogs, and Frozen didn’t help at all. It was almost like I could feel my blood boiling.

But then I pulled into the gas station and saw Dan’s defeated face - he honestly felt horrible for dragging us out of the house. 

I started to deflate. The 45 minute drive home plus 20 more rounds of B-I-N-G-O helped me to simmer down and by the time we pulled into the driveway I felt pretty silly for the way I had felt and the things I had said.

We actually really enjoyed our (lukewarm) dinner together and then played with Ina before crawling into bed.

I am writing this because I hope that next time I can extend that kind of grace from the beginning and not waste so much energy being mad. Hopefully. 

<3

Have a good day!