How was your Valentine’s Day? Ours was a bit, uh, weepy… which considering the lack of a post yesterday, probably doesn’t surprise you.
The boy was frustrated. His new machine is requiring more from him than he expected. At one point in the day, I could hear him whispering to himself, “I am a smart boy and I am intuitive.” Like his mother, he doesn’t like to feel undone by an inanimate object. Hours and hours and 5 needles later he threw up his hands and admitted that maybe, just maybe, being intuitive wasn’t going to do the trick. As difficult as it is to witness, this bumping into something he can’t immediately understand is very good for him. He’s learning skills he wouldn’t otherwise learn if everything was easy. But, I get his frustration. He had plans for Valentine’s and the learning curve just wasn’t going to permit those plans to come to fruition. Not this year anyhow.
I was frustrated too. I woke up grumpy and not feeling all that lovable. Valentine’s day was really a continuation of a difficult week. Ever had one of those weeks? Where it all just won’t go your way, no matter how you try? Every photograph blurry, every sentence muddled. Saturday morning I surrendered to a mild cold and I’ve been feeling “off” all week. I think I’ve been pushing too hard while still feeling “under” and the end result is a sleep deprived Wende. Sleep deprived Wende isn’t so much fun. In fact, she’s downright weepy. And weep I did, on several occasions yesterday. No real reason, just frustrated.
Poor IZ kept making valiant attempts to save the day. But even the best burger in town** for dinner or clandestine coffees out or hand-rendered cards couldn’t keep me from being weepy by the end of the day. I went to bed feeling very much like a Valentine’s failure. “Here’s your chocolate. I suck!” Foisting a box of chocolate on him. No, seriously, I just wasn’t that lovable yesterday—a walking, talking Rilo Kiley lyric, I was. Bad news. That was me on Valentine’s day.
The day was just wrong, wrong, wrong. Sometimes, the only remedy for all that ails you is a good night’s sleep. Especially if you’re sleep deprived.
Not that any of you ever doubted it, but IZ is a keeper. Like his son and his wife, he doesn’t like to be undone by anything either. So, he declared today a Valentine’s Do-Over. I woke up to a lovely plate of fritatta and fruit plus a hand pulled mocha. I’ll spare you the coffee shot; but the food was too glorious not to photograph, even in my just waking state.
I woke up to a sun-shiny boy. Having made friends with his manual, he was intently working. No broken needles in sight. No chanting to himself. Just sweetness and light. Like yesterday hadn’t happened at all.
Boy Wonder: Mom, I’m really sorry about yesterday. Do you want a piece of my chocolate?
IZ: Happy Valentine’s Day, Sweetie. I do love you.
And me? I’m feeling a more lovable by the minute. These boys are amazing and I adore them more than I will ever have words to express. Chocolate and flowers and gifts aside, their determination to make things right speaks volumes. Valentine’s was never really about extravagance in the first place—I’ll take their well meaning determination, any day. And maybe just one piece of chocolate.
Sometimes, the remedy for all that ails you is a Do-Over.
____________________________________________
**And for the record, the best burger in town can be had at my house. Hands down.
Do overs are cool. And so are husbands who think of them. And, sons who participate. And, wifes/mothers who enjoy them! We all have bad days — recovery is so important for everyone!
________________________________________
Now, if only I could get the dog to comply. OY. She kept us all up last night… well, IZ and I. The boy was tormented by the cat. We really need to figure the pet part of this arrangement out. ~W
Life deserves an “Undo” button, don’t you think? Of course, I’m afraid it would be abused… oh well – that’s why we have the “do-over”. I love you.
________________________________________
It does need an UNDO button. . . but do-overs are more than fine. ~W
Wow. Valentine’s Day here was covered in snow. About 4 inches. I shoveled, my Valentines got ready for work and school. I drove them, came home, hung out, got heart shaped pizzas and groceries. The kids and honey came home, I cooked the pizzas, friends came over, they ate, I left to work at a high school basketball game (with no pizza in my belly). Got home and we all went to bed. Fun. Actually, it was a good day. Busy and thankful for my family. That was me on Valentine’s day. I’m glad you got to do yours over so it was a happy one. 🙂 Did BW get his machine purring?
________________________________________
He did get it purring and has been at it nearly non-stop. Thankfully, the sun has been out for the last few days, so he’s outside playing with REAL children. Heh. ~W
Oh…well then. Happy Valentine’s Day!! I am so happy you had a do-over…and like I said, I think that every day can be V-Day and you can walk around feeling like a princess…because that should definitely happen more than a few days a year right?
________________________________________
Oh, I’m with you. Valentine’s is one of our favorite holidays, but we make an effort for beauty all the time. For me, I feel like a princess every morning when he hands me a mocha in my sunny yellow cup. 😀 ~W
IZ should patent and market his “do-over” button. He could make it a limited-use item that would stop working after the second or third try. I’d buy one in a heartbeat. I’d buy two – one for each hand. 😀
________________________________________
Ahem, IZ… get on this, ok sweetie? 😀 Thanks. 😀 ~W
Do overs RULE. Glad you got one. I get one every day. I’m lucky like that. HBB gets one every day, too. Imagine having a do over every day of your “after brain surgery life” to which to awaken. 🙂
________________________________________
That reminds me of this scene in a movie called, “The Namesake”. A father who survived a train-wreck tells his son, whom he named Gogol after the author of the book he was reading at the time of the accident, that the reason he named him Gogol was because of this. The son says, “So, is that what you think when you look at me? You see that day?” And his father says, “No. I see everything that came after it. You, America, life. . .after that, every day is a gift.”
Every day is a gift, isn’t it? ~W
I’m going to incorporate “do overs” in our house too. Great idea!
_________________________________
They’re rather useful, really. ~W
I like the idea of a “do over.” It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, “Tomorrow is a brand new day with no mistakes in it.” Oh and his fritatta looks delicious. Do you think he would share his recipe?
_________________________________
I’m not sure what recipe he used, but I’ll ask him! 😀 Good to see you here on the site. 😀 ~W
Sometimes February 14th isn’t such a great day–you notice I don’t call it Valentine’s Day,which I think is kind of a contrived holiday. Thus, I don’t feel any need for do-overs because each day brings its own promise, frustrations, joys and chances for a new beginning. Your guys are both definitely keepers!!
_________________________________
They are! 😀 ~W