Tubby Nugget & Lucky Charms

Hello and welcome to a (finally) sunny Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is April 20th.

While the hubs and WAKWIR* have been adventuring at the FIRST Robotics Championship in Houston, Texas, the littles and I have been "bach-ing" it at home, per the definition provided in the American Heritage Dictionary: "To live in the manner of a bachelor, as when one's spouse or partner is away. To bach. [Short for BACHELOR.]"

The first order of business was to put the kibosh on cooking. Cereal was the week's menu for breakfast, snacks, and dinner. I bought three kinds. (Bread and butter, apples, carrots, and whatever the school served for lunch, stayed the same.)

The second order of business was to minimize messes so there would be no need for cleaning.

And the third order of business was to have fun together.

With basic physical needs met, I wanted to really "be" with the kids. In "ordinary time" - when everyone's home and we're plugging away through our regular routines - it's easy to stay busy without really connecting. I can do laundry, attend meetings, clean up, even pray as a family without really connecting with the kids. But in the absence of 2/5 of our family members (and here I'm not counting the college kids), wide spaces of awareness opened up like a big open-mouthed chasm yelling: "SPEND TIME WITH THE LITTLES." (Note: they aren't little-little, that's just abbreviated speak for the younger two of our brood.)

Each day, as I pulled into the driveway, my brain switched to playtime mode, and a DC current of "let's play" flowed freely through my spirit. Let's get into our jammies and watch a movie, I'd say. We'd snuggle into our lumpy couch and feast on Hannah Montana episodes.

One evening we searched our neighborhood for our cat Scrawny who'd recently taken up residence in the house. We learned that our youngest cat, Little Kitty, had forced our elderly cat into a depressing exile in a closet in the detached garage. We took pity on her and brought her inside. As the weather warmed up - and with the new couch coming in a couple of weeks - I set her outside, thinking she'd find a new refuge. Then the snow, rain, and cold set in. We didn't see her for 3 days. I felt huge remorse for my actions. With memories of our other elderly, possibly deceased, cat who went into the woods and never came back, we set out. First, we climbed up into the treehouse to survey the surroundings. Nothing. We walked down to our neighbors' bridge spanning the Warroad River. Other than bossy Little Kitty following with a bushed tail and flat ears, nothing. Then we walked along the county road towards town, where we were joined by the neighbors' cats. (Yes, plural.) Still nothing. 

"Scrawny!" we'd call. "SCRAWWWWW-NEEEEE!" 

When we returned home, we triumphed. There she was, in our driveway. Where she came from, I couldn't say. But, that didn't matter. She hadn't died on my watch. We scooped her up and brought her back in the house where she happily resumed residence on the yellow blanket on the lumpy couch.

One night we did have a work night, but even this reflected the spirit of togetherness. We made a list of tasks and a plan then ticked each box of doing as a team. The reward for all of this productivity was more snuggles on the couch with a blend of Hannah Montana and Gravity Falls.

A friend of the kids spent Thursday evening with us. We celebrated with Dairy Queen chicken-strip dinners, cookie dough ice cream scoops on sugar cones at home, and a game of Apples to Apples. I convinced the kids that a funeral could be "entertaining" while we completely agreed that Pinocchio's nose was indeed "straight" in relation to the other options of string cheese and a sling shot.

When the entire family is home, I usually thrill for some solitary time in my bed when it's time to go to sleep. This week, I was only too happy to accommodate the Third Grader's request to sleep with him or to snooze with the cat on the couch. Last night we had a sleepover in the living room. The cat was thrilled.

This very morning kids showed me Tubby Nugget, which has to be just about the sweetest thing for kids on the internet. If you click on anything in this post, make sure it's this YouTube video, Encouragements & Positive Vibes To Help You Thru Your Week!

I've both missed my family who are away and loved spending the extra time being extra together with my family still here in Wannaskaland. I was reminded this week that kids are fun. Kids are a blast. That maybe I'm still a kid, too, just with an older body.

Now it's time to make some chocolate chip cookies! 

*Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence