The day started off okay. Kyle slept until 7:00 AM, the latest he’s slept in a while. In fact, he slept the whole night through, which is a relief since I didn’t have any backup. A few nights a week he’s been waking up with one of his limbs stuck through the crib rails. Poor thing. I’ve been covering one side of the crib with a thin quilt to prevent this, but sometimes he manages anyway. I have a Breathable Crib Bumper on order (at the suggestion by Suburbia at Large). I hope it comes soon, and I hope it saves the day.

I was dragging less this morning and I got breakfast into me, Kyle, the dog and the cat, and got me and Kyle out the door by 8:30. The day went by fast and I was late leaving the office because I was trying to make a self-imposed deadline. Then the guy who parks behind me had to stop and chat with EVERY PERSON HE ENCOUNTERED on the way out of the office. Then traffic on the 101 was at a standstill. Doesn’t it always happen that when you are in a hurry the universe conspires against you, like in that scene in The Truman Show where Truman is driving through town on his way to find out that his whole life is sham, and all the cars turn in front of him and the lights all turn red, etc. etc.?

I called the Daycare Lady (I need a good nickname for her, any suggestions?) to tell her I would be really late and she replied with uncomfortable silence. Then she told me she would have to leave Kyle with her kids if that was okay, because she was actually all dressed up to go out and her friends were waiting for her. I said it was okay – her kids are grown and lovely people and Kyle enjoys playing with them. Plus it would only be about 15 minutes until I got there. Still, I was upset. I mean, it was my fault and I know she has a life, too, but I had asked her a few weeks ago if it was okay for me to leave Kyle with her until 6:30 if I needed to while Stewart was out of town – I offered to pay extra but she said no thank you.

I concentrated on driving carefully and I made it to her house by 6:35. She was still there, feeding Kyle a snack/dinner. She told me that as soon as we hung up, her friends called and said they would be late. Huh. I looked at Kyle’s dinner. It was some flatbread, a cucumber, and some cheese sticks! That made me feel better about my own gourmet menus.

When we got home there was a note on the door from my neighbor, the woman across the street, inviting us to come over for hot dogs before our walk. (We walk together on Tuesdays and Thursdays after dinner.) I didn’t think Kyle would eat but he did, and he guzzled down 1.5 sippy cups full of milk! They served Dodger Dogs, tastily blackened on the outside, hot and juicy on the inside. Yum.

By the time our walk was done it was Kyle’s bedtime. We had successfully avoided trashing the house, which left me free to unload the dishwasher and fold clothes while I watched The Colbert Report. Moral of the story is: the key to this life is to keep it simple. I only have to make it to Sunday night. Stewart better not be sick when he gets back.