on the joys of organized chaos and big-kid friends

As I've mentioned, my son turns 2 in a few weeks.  Though this is a happy event to which I'm greatly looking forward, there's also a lot of stress that goes along with it.  There's presents to buy, a party to plan, food to prepare, and the "I can't believe my baby's turning 2" tears to shed.

Of course, most of his day-to-day routines won't change.  His preschool uses the same schedule for moving classes up as the public school system does so, there at least, he's been in the two-year-old class for weeks.

However, I will admit that I've been very nervous about him moving up from the nursery to preschool children's church.

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Don't worry. Be happy.

When I was thinking about what I'd like to write on, there have been so many things in the news lately that have made me so angry, and so many things in my life that aren't going well just right this second, that I had a hard time sorting through them all.  Do I want to talk about how Richard Dawkins is an even bigger jerk than anyone realized?  Or all the things that are so wrong about the Casey Anthony verdict?

Or maybe I could just whine about how miserable I am that my baby is sick and has to stay home from school, or that the new interest rates almost doubled my student loan payment.

But I'm not going to do that (at least not today).

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Too much to cover: Big-kid friends, "Glee", and cultural myths

Tuesdays are always a busy day because of Life Group, and last night was our turn to cook, which only compounds things further.  (Though hubby's "breakfast for dinner" appeared to be a big hit, we were a little low attendance-wise, so it looks like leftover breakfast will be for dinner for the rest of the week.)

Then, due to a juxtaposition of circumstances, we didn't have a babysitter for the kids.  So while the grown-ups talked and read downstairs, I stayed upstairs with my 21-month-old son and a just-turned-5-years-old boy I often teach in Children's Church.

The two of them had a blast, and I'm sure our friends' son crashed just as hard as mine did when he got home.  But in the course of wearing themselves out, they really wore me out.

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Breaking Your Own Rules

I have a strict-ish bedtime of 8:30 set for my 21-month-old son.  A lot of the time it's not even a problem; he's tuckered out and ready for night-night by 8:00 at the latest.

Tuesday nights, however, are special.

On Tuesday nights, my husband and I have couples' Bible Study (aka "Life Group"), and childcare is provided.

Now, my son is by no means what you would term "shy", and he thrives on getting to go see all the people from church and from getting attention from the babysitter.  By the time we leave around 8:30, he's wired.

Most nights we will just bring him home and put him straight to bed, but he was in such a wide-awake and happy mood last night, I couldn't stand to do it.

Plus, "Glee" was back after a long break, and Mommy can't watch it by herself, now can she?

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