Rainy Day pick up.

Given the rain we've gotten recently, we should have plenty of flowers come May. Today, when it was time to pick up Chip, Baby Guy was so excited! He brought me his socks and shoes, then climbed into my lap so I would put them on. He then raced to the coat closet and climbed inside. He was ready before the girls even were thinking about going outside.
Once we got out everything reversed. It was the usual stampede out the door, but while the girls raced ahead on the sidewalk looking for puddles to splash in, Baby Guy had just walked across the yard. He stopped, and looked up at me like "WHAT is this? It's cold. It's raining. Can't we go back in now?" I soooo understood how he felt. How many times in life do we anticipate something just to be absolutely wonderful only for it not to be so wonderful....perhaps even a tad unpleasant?
So I picked him up and carried him to school inside my big coat. He snuggled up against my shoulder and held on tight. For a minute, that "baby" feeling came back; the smell, the snuggles. I sometimes wonder how many of those moments we have left.
Once we were waiting in the school's lobby, (because we were early! Imagine that!) there was a new temptation. There's a bronze sculpture of a boy w/ a wheel barrow, and the school always fills the wheelbarrow with something seasonally appropriate. The boy is about the same height as Princess D so it's kind of the endless temptation, especially when it's new stuff. Well, today it had a stuffed rabbit and plastic Easter eggs in it. The toddlers just could not resist opening each and every egg in there, despite my pleas of how it didn't belong to them, and how we had to respect other peoples property,etc.

"Mo-om. The eggs are empty." Princess D exclaimed.

Sure I could have compared the empty eggs to the empty tomb for a great spiritual lesson, but at that moment I wasn't thinking about spiritual lessons. I was thinking about the principal's eyes boring through my back at what my kids were doing.
"Of course they are honey. It's not Easter yet. See the bunny is just getting ready to do his work. If we open the eggs now, he won't be able to fill them with candy for Easter."
"On No! P! Stop! I want candy for Easter!"
It had the desired effect, but I had broken THE RULE. In our house, we have a rule to neither confirm nor deny the existence of imaginary figures like Santa, the Great Pumpkin, and the Easter Bunny....but today I was desperate. I'll confess my sin to Mr. M when he gets home, and have to deal with him rolling his eyes and shaking his head disapprovingly, leaving me feeling like I'm about 2 inches tall. It still was worth it.

Immediately, I picked up Baby Guy and we wandered towards the office door to look at the bunnies on the secretary's desk. Through the glass we see the half day kindies bounding towards us, just in time. Everyone was ready to go home. And for a few more minutes, Baby Guy acted like a baby again.