On Thursday night, some colleagues and I sojourned to Cragun’s, an up-north resort, to participate in a conference featuring English-related teaching techniques. It was a pretty good time, and we thought the talks went well, but the food wasn’t terrific. It was especially un-terrific for Rach, and what with the puking, she missed the story-teller on Friday evening.

When I got home on Saturday morning, I went straight into a whirlwind weekend including a trip to the Children’s Theater, a couple of visits to the hospital to see my grandfather, a birthday party for Dan’s sister, and errands at Target today, during which Shef rode in high-style on one of their super kid-carrying carts, standing on one foot on a platform designed for sitting, making exclamations like: “I love standing on one foot!” and “My penis shakes while we’re driving!”

I don’t think anyone could blame me for being tired.

Yesterday was a snow day, and I am totally grateful. The sophs and I were testy at each other about Odyssey final assessments. They seem to think that because a sizable percentage of them have ignored the homework board, I shouldn’t make them write essays on Homer’s epic, “a foundational text of classic literature.” I told them they need to suck it up and learn how to fake it.

And then it snowed sixteen inches, and we all got a little reprieve.

It was great, and it was also a reminder of why I can’t hack it as a stay-at-home mom. Before 9:30am, we played chase, Candy Land, trains, cars, hide-and-seek, washing dishes, doing a workbook page on same and different, tromping around in the snow, having hot cocoa, making cinnamon toast, and writing with the Cars pencil. There was one temper tantrum about not getting something at precisely the moment he asked for it and one resultant time-out. I tried to make him watch tv, but he was resistant. When I insisted that a DVD simply MUST. BE. CHOSEN., he picked this infernal Baby Dance thing featuring a grown woman speaking like a two-year-old while dressed in leggings and a tutu.

By noon, I couldn’t keep my eyes open; so I told Shef we could both take naps in my bed. I figured I’d be out for an hour, but instead I woke up at ten-after-three with morning breath and sleep in my eyes.

Daycare will be open on Monday. God bless those preschool teachers.