It Didn't Go As Planned

My one day of all-out studying last Saturday didn't quite go as planned.

After I helped my son with his homework, we celebrated his victory of not waiting to the last minute with an intense game of Two-Square before taking him and Bella to practice and then off to their mom's for Easter.

On the way home Sofia was so excited to have me all to herself for the rest of the day and all day Sunday, then started crying when I told her it was her mom's turn with her on Easter.

She loves her mom very much, and her mom loves her just as much right back, but more and more Sofia can't seem get enough of me.

And I can't get enough of her. So we played our own game of Father-Daughter Two Square when we got back.

Even letting Shanghai play

But after awhile I told her I had to pass my test. That's just the way it was. Daddy absolutely has to study.

She was so sweet about it. She told me she would "give me the peace" and watch a movie quietly on the couch.

So I began to study, appreciating how this little 7-year old was being so understanding.......This little 7-year old that I will never again in my entire life have for Easter morning at 7 years old.

I knew I had to find it in me to make this time that will never happen again, a very special time.

I looked at her and told her to put her shoes on, we were going to the store. We were going to color Easter eggs.


I also picked up a bottle of wine that was calling my name, but the stress of not being prepared for the test was calling harder. (But I still found humor in getting to eat out of the monkey bowl)

At the checkout line I was smiling right through my stress and into the eyes of my excited child telling me all the different colors she was going to dye the eggs and how pretty they were going to be.

When I asked our cashier, Rachel, how she was doing she said, "Oh, very stressed", but with a very big smile. I thanked her for that and told her how impressed I was with her for being able to do that.

On the way home we took the back way so we could hit the "go-over-these-slowly" bumps. Sofia ran the show as she would tell me when to punch "The Panther" and hit the bumps fast, making us bounce up and down in the jeep and laugh uncontrollably.

She held the wine so it wouldn't break, but when we unpacked the Panther at home discovered we had put a crack in the milk jug from all our bouncing.

We made the most beautiful Easter eggs that Saturday night while singing Easter songs....

...sharing with Great-Grandma Bette all the different colors in great detail, and feeling great about ourselves.

Trying to sneak into the cookie dough only to discover Dad had beat her to it and busting him for it.

Then going to bed cuddling and watching "Here Comes Peter Cottontail".

After I spent the early morning hiding the eggs as creatively as possible, she spent the rest of the morning hunting them down.

And then delivered them to some very special people.

Ms. Liz and her three children.

Ms. Elisabeth, who gave Sofia the most heart-warming hug when she received her egg. And Cristina, who had joined us by then as their mother had come to pick up Sofia, asked me as we got back into the car what was wrong with Elisabeth's face.

I told her she was born that way, and asked her wasn't it beautiful how she and Sofia hugged each other?

Wasn't it beautiful how real beauty shines through, knowing no bounds?

We couldn't find Santa Dave or Ms. Deborah, but Tom who runs the gas station knew where Deborah sleeps and said he'd deliver her egg to her at the end of his shift.

I shared with Cristina that Deborah's daughter committed suicide years ago, causing her to lose it and go "crazy", and has been living on the streets ever since, and no one has ever seen her smile. Tom told me that when he gave her the kids' Christmas card back in December, he saw a smile cross her face briefly.

As I packed the girls into mom's car I knew I had had a very good Easter, and now it was time to get done what studying I could.