mostly sunny with occasional storm showers

Today was one of those days that was awesome in many ways-- the boys did some really fun imaginative play this morning, we spent 3 hours at a fun new-to-us kids museum, D made a new stop-action film that made me laugh out loud with delight, gymnastics class went great... And yet, it was also clear that a) D is not quite over his weekend illness, or certainly it's still affecting his mood, and b) I think I'm now coming down with the same cold, which (along with a bad midday headache) led to some occasional but intense crabbiness and raised voices.

It's interesting to me how I can be calm and patient in response to their bickering, etc, 100 times in a day, then snap once or twice and feel like that outweighs all the other "good parent" moments of the day. It breaks my heart a little when, after getting irritated with each other, Quinn comes up to me and says, "Can I have a hug?" I also love that he recognizes he needs a hug, and can ask for it. I hold on to things like that as evidence that I'm doing something right.

At dinner tonight D asked me what kinds of protective mechanisms our house has (vs things like airbags in cars). I mentioned the smoke detectors, and burglar alarms, how houses here in the west coast are built to better withstand earthquakes while houses in areas prone to tornadoes tend to have things like basements to hide in. I think it was Q who mentioned something about how the house could get crushed in a tornado, though the people would be safe in the basement, and all of a sudden poor D burst into tears. I didn't realize it at first, as he had been in such a good mood up to that second-- but the thought of our house (and all our things--including his legos) being destroyed really shook him...and really took me by surprise. Poor sweet little dude. He calmed down after a few minutes (and a few hugs). They got to bed late tonight, thanks in part to us all still adjusting to daylight savings time change), but hopefully they get a good rest and have good moods for tomorrow. Which will certainly be a calmer day plans-wise... and hopefully moods-wise, as well.