a break from the ordinary

Yes, yes, I want to focus on the positive more, and often that means stopping and recognizing the little things that may be simple but surely bring joy. Take for instance the usual school-day morning interactions among the three stooges we call our children. With 2/3 of them never quite thrilled to be waking up, the nastiness factor can get pretty high fairly quickly, with tempers flaring immediately and a ridiculous amount of raised voices as their primary communications. As I was cleaning up the kitchen yesterday morning, though, I suddenly realized that I wasn't hearing the muffled cries of "That's not fair!!" or "MOMMY!" coming from upstairs, and there was a clear and precise absence of wailing, crying, yelling, or whining. Figuring that surely some horrifyingly fatal catastrophe must have befallen all three, I peeked into the living room only to be met with this sight:



Do you know what that is? That is three siblings sitting together, keeping their hands to themselves, actually all engaged in one quiet and delightful activity. JAM read several books to Red and Pudge, and no one complained or griped or anything. They giggled a bit, and they even thanked him at the end for reading. A positive interaction, on a school day morning, is most definitely a happy bloggable moment.


Taking what I can get,