Date Day with Mommy!

I haven’t forgotten about the rest of my promised RnR posts – there are many to come! But I had a great day today with Ezra, and just couldn’t resist blogging about it!

The first few days after Russ went back were kind of difficult for me. I was exhausted, a little depressed, and Ezra was into EVERYTHING! Every cupboard, every drawer…I was trying desperately to catch up on the housework, laundry, and dishes that got neglected while Russ was home. But for every mess that I cleaned up, Ezra made about three more. I was frustrated. I gave up on the spanking and saying no because it just seemed futile. He wasn’t being “bad” he was just exploring and bored out of his mind. But, because mommy was tired and cranky, we stayed in the house anyway.

I went to MOPS this morning, and in our small group discussion about solitude and silence (another whole topic for another day) we got to talking about the expectation that “mom’s just need a break from the kids sometimes!” And it’s true. But, one of the girls in my group said something along these lines: “Sometimes, when I am feeling like I need to escape the kids, I find that really what I need is just the opposite! What I need is to CONNECT with my children – one on one.”

When she said that – I realized that the frustrations of the weekend were mostly my fault. I had been so focused on all the housework, the chores, even the blogging and facebooking…Ezra and I were just coexisting. I wanted him to leave me alone and just play with his toys instead of playing with EVERYTHING ELSE! I realize now that mostly what he wanted was just attention from me. “Daddy just left and now mommy is cranky and ignoring me…” – granted, he probably wouldn’t even be able to express such feelings or thoughts, but in reality, it’s probably what he was feeling!!!

So, this afternoon, I decided to put everything else aside and take a date day where I just had fun with Ezra. Now, this date day wasn’t much different than most other running errand days, except for my focus and mindset. I wanted Ezra to know that he had my attention and love, even while getting out and doing things.

We started by stopping at the fruit stand – ya know, the one less than a mile from my house that I have never (in two years of living here) EVER stopped at because I’m always in a hurry? I got Ezra his first Ezra-sized pumpkin and some fresh locally-grown apples. Ezra LOVED the pumpkin! And I actually ate an apple! Like held it in my hand and took a bite! (Haven’t done that in ages either!) And it was oh so good!

Then we went to Lifeway and got a new Praise Baby DVD and two lullaby CDs…because I had heard they were on sale. Which they weren’t. But the cashier had a “30% off your entire purchase” coupon. Then we walked down to TJMaxx and bought a dress. Then walked down to Barnes and Noble for a pumpkin spice latte…because every date needs some special coffee, and because it’s FALL! and fall means pumpkin spice lattes!

We ran into Target…tried on some silly baby hats (didn’t buy them, but had a lot of fun anyway), and bought some diapers.

Then we drove to this park in our town called Funtopia…which is a really big wooden play area with swings and clubhouses and all sorts of neat stuff. A lot of the stuff is too big and too old for Ezra just yet, but even being outside he was so happy! He started yelling and laughing and talking and just having a great time. I think his favorite part was playing with and eating the wood chips.

I pushed Ezra in the baby swings, then walked over to the regular swings and swung with him on my lap! That REALLY made him giggle. The hours had passed and Ezra was getting tired so we ended the day by swinging on a bigger porch-style swing and rocked for a few minutes. By the time we got home, Ezra was ready to nurse and go to SLEEP!

I took a lot of pictures and videos…because he was being so incredibly cute I couldn’t help myself! I think that the date would have been better if I hadn’t taken pictures and videos, because I would have been more focused on him. I’m not saying that I regret it…because now I can remember what a wonderful afternoon we had! But I think that when it comes time for our next mommy-baby date, that I and going to just set aside the camera for once and just focus on having fun with Ezra.

Here’s a little video montage of our day: