John and I both get up groggy because in addition to David’s nightly call, Rose had kept us up an hour having a panic attack about the pain in her knee. I’m sure there was some pain; there was definitely some drama queen action. Then she slept until 8:45 which was dandy for me getting my first nap of the day (my first call was 5:45) but made us nervous about her waking up for school the next day.

Then ensues a typical morning hour: my sister and I call each other five times planning and replanning; I pack lunch and snack; Rose and David constantly interrupt me while I am trying to slice cheese or hunt for the fruit leather; Rose and David play chase until someone gets hurt; John and I negotiate about who is taking which shifts; I take three trips to the bathroom; I load everyone into the mini-van and go to my sister’s house six blocks away.

It’s been pouring all morning and I have a p-t appointment at 1:00, so we go to the indoor playground at the zoo. When it was first built, we totally turned up our noses at it. What does an indoor slide have to do with learning about animals? I still think Zoomazium has nothing to do with the zoo’s mission, but since we are already members, it’s a fabulous free rainy day activity. David learns how to slide on his tummy. Rose only bangs her head once. No one fights over whose turn it is to sit on the elephant. And David is totally adorable wanting to hold Ariana’s hand and only Ariana’s.

Much to my shock, my sister and I manage to get everyone back to my house it time for me to go to p-t. I can jet out because John isn’t teaching yet. My life is going to change radically when he is not around to take shifts.

Physical therapy is great. I adore my physical therapist. She knows what the problem is—bulging disk and s-i joint—and we are on the road to recovery. I still hurt, but I come out of the session aligned.

I come home and David has gone down smoothly for his nap, Rose is mellow, and John does not seem completely burned out. I take a half hour nap and then give Rose some Mommy/Rose time. We look at the viewfinder, read books, have a snack, and we are just about to unload the dishwasher when David emerges.

John takes Rose and David off to the shopping store and I get my first concentrated work time in weeks. I write a press release and work on pobiz. I don’t actually write any poetry.

They all get home at dinner time and since I have done nothing to prepare, things get chaotic for awhile. I try to unload the groceries, make cheesy breadsticks, defrost the soup, and convince David to sit in high chair simultaneously.

As I try to clear the table, the kids start squabbling over the legos, and I have to join them. My back does not like sitting on the floor. David dumps all the legos out. This is a lot of little tiny legos. But everybody calms down with him sitting on my lap as we put the legos back in the bucket and Rose builds a garden. Somewhere in there I do a poopy diaper change, John takes over lego duty, and I lie on the couch and read twenty books, or the same book twenty times—“Can we do it? Yes we can!”

The kids have a bath together which is quite cheery though David does not like having to leave before Rose. Then David and I read Maisy, nurse, and I hang around until he falls asleep. Rose gets her normal routine and with only a brief call back she goes to sleep without a pre-kindergarten freak-out.