happy place

I always know we're long over due for a walk to the river when:

• Our 3-bedroom apartment that felt palatial upon move-in feels like the toddlers are multiplying and launching themselves off of every surface in every direction (and mostly onto me)
• Every corner of our home looks like it's been ransacked by thieves and trampled upon by herds of elephants who invited their friends, the fraggles,  to the food in our fridge 
• The wife and I haven't made real eye contact in days
• There's screeching, there's fighting, there's constant whining, and even the cat is twitchy from overexposure to her younger human siblings. 

And March break for my preschoolers has only just begun. 

It gets ugly, people. It really does - and only being out in a wide open space can help it most days.

Thankfully, blessedly, yesterday felt just like spring should and to the river we went. 

And we were all happy.

(Until bedtime. And then all over-tiredness broke loose and house war 246 erupted over teeth-brushing and taking too long on the potty. But we take what we can get. Especially because the wife took all of it. I was already in bed, knitting.)

The end.

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This post is dedicated to single parents, parents with larger families than mine, all families who live in spaces under 1000 square feet. I salute you.