Today really was fabulous. The morning was great; lunch has been fine (as that was a concern seeing it is the biggest time the girls see Paul). Naps happened early and then we were off to do an errand, which led to a surprise visit to the park, which led to dinner with a friend and her little girl. Hooray for unplanned happy occasions!
Even coming home and bath time went great. By the way, the girls really climbed at the park. I was so proud; being a lover of climbing myself. It was so fun to see them try things that they had never done before.
Anyways, what I’m about to tell you is going to seem like it has nothing to do with what I’ve said previously, but just hold on:
We only have one santa hat in the house. Doesn’t sound like a problem? Oh, it has been. Especially between Hope and Sophia. Let’s just say that Hope decided she wanted to wear it first today and that gave us a great little opportunity to teach Sophia about being happy and content even when someone else has something you want.
Right before bed, Sophia grabbed the hat and put it on, planning to wear it to bed.
“No, no santa hats in bed.” I took the hat and put it out in the hallway.
At some point in the middle of the night, Sophia came into my room, crawled in the bed and asked for a drink. I’m not as tough in the middle of the night as I am during the day.
“Okay.” We got the drink and then visited the bathroom. (Did you know that’s one of the hard and fast rules of parenting? It’s okay to give a kid a drink in the middle of the night, but always take them to the bathroom as well. You’ll never regret it. = )
After walking back down the hallway and entering her room, I realized that she wasn’t with me. “Where…what…” my groggy mind thought.
All of the sudden, she came around the corner… wearing the santa hat!
I don’t care. Wait is there a way that it could be dangerous for a three-year old to wear a santa hat in bed? Because if there is, then I’m going to have to say no and that would be really sad.
Before I had time to decide, she pulled off the hat, wadded it up, stuck it under her arm and dove in bed.
Smiling to myself (and not a little unrelieved that I didn’t have to deal with it), I tucked her in and left the room.
You know, sometimes when your dad is on the other side of the world… you just need a santa hat under your arm in bed.
Thanks for reading my first series: Taking care of four little girls alone (while my husband is on an amazing study trip to Israel). Here are links to the other related posts.
It’s official: the Israel trip is on
Day 1: to turn out that last light
Day 3: Is something wrong with me?
small steps, big picture 
20 thoughts on “Day 4: Sometimes you just need…”