A Good Day

It was Monday. I never know what Mondays are going to bring. Wife is out the door at 8:00 and my parents come by 9:30 to watch our sons for the day. It's my job to get the baby down for a nap by 9:00 (he "sleeps in" until 6:30 in the morning if we're lucky) and then head out the door in time to review my notes for 11:15 class. Sometimes baby Mack decides to give me a hard time and resist his morning nap. But yesterday he cooperated and hit the sack with no fight at all. I came down the stairs feeling like a champion, and finished getting ready for work. Only one problem: I forgot to brush my teeth. Well, I could head up the stairs to the bathroom and risk waking him up, or not brush my teeth. Of course, we have the creakiest stairs in the world, so hell no I'm not going back upstairs. My parents arrive and we chat for a few minutes, and I head out the door with time to go to the convenience store. I grab a toothbrush and toothpaste and enjoy my half hour ride to work. I settle into my office by 10:15, brush my teeth in the bathroom down the hall, and prepare for class with nearly an hour to spare. So far, so good. The day proceeds without drama. Wonderful. I teach two classes--I'm not amazing in either one, but I get the job done. I'm composed and professional for office hours and stay on top of e-mail and administrative tasks. I'm relaxed when I chat with colleagues and students. 5:00 comes fast so I shut down for the day and pick up the kids at my parents' house. Baby Mack has snot flying out of his nose, which quickly gets transferred to my nice red shirt. It's all good, all of my other shirts have booger residue too. It comes with the territory. We have a fairly pleasant ride home. I'm starved, so I crush some leftover pasta and vegetables and feel good about the day. My parents call. I forgot Mack's giraffe at their house, a little crutch he'll need for daycare on Wednesday. Oh well, I'll figure it out tomorrow. Right now it's time to wind down. We all get a good night's sleep. 4-year-old Troy sleeps until 6:40 and Mack actually sleeps until 7:00, something that almost never happens. I head downstairs with the boys and upon opening the dining room shade I see that my car door has been open all night. Somehow I forgot to close it after we got home yesterday. As luck would have it, the battery isn't dead. There's probably a squirrel hiding in my car, but so be it. It was a good day and today looks bright too.