It has been one of those days that rises and falls so slowly you don't realize it has until you turn to look where you have been, see the terrain you traversed and appreciate a different horizon.

My children especially my oldest and third born have been bickering and unkind to one another. There has been some group dynamics in the house lately which have made me dread mothering.

Mostly because, I hate feeling like I am blowing it.

Mostly because being the center of the Universe, I naturally have a single hand in the character and development of my children.

Some idiot put that in my pipe early in life and ohhhhhh, if I didn't smoke it.

A lot.

Their discord and my own maternal Kung Fu grip on the Center of the Universe thing got so dismal, the outing they had planned for the afternoon, didn't happen for them.

That's an hour I should have recorded.

Yup.

Right after the words: 'That's it. You two are staying home today' I should have hit 'record', dubbed a few and sent them on to Iraq so my guys could have used the recordings for interrogation purposes. It was biblical I tell ya...talk about 'wailing and gnashing of teeth.' One listen to that and all those jihadists over there would have been agreeing to a new Middle East accord.

So the day happened.

My second born, Ethan, he did go on the outings. My littlest, Matthew, succumbed to a nap about the time it was time to depart so he stayed home,too.

Maybe he would forget about park day.
Maybe the nap would just wipe it right out of his mind.
Nope.
Wake up time for him was_not_pretty, but I didn't think of recording that either...actually I couldn't hear. My ears were bleeding by then.

Email got read.
Posts were made.
A yard got raked.
Furniture got moved.
A trip to the post office made.
Things I no longer need were thrown away
Troop donations were sorted into the right boxes
and a computer full of documents got sorted into files.

What has settled into my mind tonight is how none of those things happened without the grace of another person.

Early on Earthmama emailed to check in as I was trying to decide how best to take my Bickerers out and make it look like an accident. A simple 'how are you?' reminded me to check in with myself. Yeah...how the hell WAS I?

My inbox included items which needed my attention and decisions I hadn't made yet, but it also included friends accepting invitations to play, visit or come to a class. It included belated birthday wishes and news of how those I hold in thought are doing.

At lunch most days my husband comes home and today he was prepared to take Bickerer #1 with him to the office for the afternoon before I was able to tell him I had called another dear friend who agreed to watch Ethan, our RNOD (Resident Non-Offender of the Day) at his outing and to bring him home.

Tony watched the other kids on his lunch break while I drove over and had a few minutes to drive and look at the sky on the way back IN SILENCE. ahhhhh.

When I returned Bickerer #1 was raking the lawn and his counterpart was in the livingroom. Cleaning.

Holy crap I thought.

Just so they could see mom with no oxygen going to her brain they went for the Trifecta by not only NOT fighting for the rest of the day, but finishing the lawn T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R, unadvised.

I had to sit down for a minute.

Seriously.

I sat down and peaked out the window at their two heads in the sunshine bent over copper piles of pine needles.

In awhile my mama friend drove up with Ethan and stayed for a few minutes. A few minutes equaling how long it took her to help me move furniture and to catch up on our lives a little after a long week of momminess.

At the post office I ran into a lady who has made donations in the past for shipping. Her seeing first hand how her organization supports our folks across the pond was--well I can't sit here forever trying to explain how awesome THAT was, but I have smart friends and readers, I'll let you work on that.

In the evening still another couple of friends stopped by and while I had dreaded sorting and reorganzing the mess my living room had become from this odd day, having guests made the task more enjoyable. In fact so much was done, the topic turned to computers...well mostly becasue I whined...'Hey Mike, can you help me with this stupid computer since you are here? Did he ever. Man! I am squared away now...I'm too cool for color TV I tell ya. LOOK out, Steve Jobs!

I started a day pretty disgusted with the house, the kids, my level of participation in life in general. Now while tired and not done, I feel blessed by those who have been with me in mind or body today.

The day rose and fell and rose again.

I was grateful for
the walk
and the view
and the company.