emmy's best day

Last week Emmy was in heaven.

You see, Emmy judges her days by the number of "fun things" she fills them with. Often, she resolves to tears because her allotted number of fun things doesn't measure up to her expectations. I often hear her lament, "What! Only one fun thing? Ryenne and Kate have three fun things today! And I only have one!" (The girls have school everyday, which in Emmy's eyes always counts for an automatic one fun thing. Throw in ballet, gymnastics, and piano, they often outweigh her in the fun thing count.)

Funny thing about it? Ryenne would happily give up any or all of her fun things to be able to be home. To my oldest girl, there is something magical about a day at home with absolutely zero fun things on the schedule.

On the other hand, for Emmy, a day at home with nothing but me spells disaster. Because of this, she has developed a back-up plan for boring days. When her days are not calendered to her expectations, she takes it upon herself to make her own appointments. I often find her on the phone (she has a pretty good list of telephone numbers memorized) in an effort to increase her fun thing tally for the day.

She's good, that one.

But this week? It was much better than normal.

Monday's are usually Emmy's toughest. No fun things on the schedule. However, this Monday started off on a positive note for her when Kate convinced me she was much too sick to go to school. Surprisingly enough, she soon made a miraculous recovery. Bad for Kate: she has cried wolf one too many times. Good for Emmy: someone to play with after all. Her one fun thing lasted all day.

On Tuesday, Emmy got up and got ready for preschool. One fun thing.

Directly following preschool, she was able to go to Britney's house for the afternoon. Britney is much, much more fun than mom. And Britney has a baby. Two fun things. And to top it all off, she told me that Britney had a friend over who brought her baby. Emmy bubbled with excitement as she told me how she was "surrounded by babies". She couldn't have been more thrilled when they had a picnic in the backyard (I told you Britney was more fun). And learned to read a few more words: this, that, and then.

I picked her up from her fun adventure and we drove to pick up the girls from the bus. Sisters are home! On the way home from the bus, we stopped off at the bookmobile where she was able to check out not one, but two new books. Three fun things.

On the way home from the bookmobile, Emmy sat in the back of the car and sang herself a new song. "This is my best day. This is my best day. This is my best day." I smiled inside.

Emmy does that to me.

On Wednesday, she had preschool. She normally goes to music class on Wednesdays, bringing her Wednesday tally to two fun things. Except this Wednesday, Claire was sick, causing us to skip music classes. Of course, Emmy was devastated. However, she quickly referred to her afore mentioned back-up plan: She called Aunt Andrea and invited herself over. There is always fun to be had at Andrea's house. Two fun things after all.

Thursday brought an early morning visit to Grandma C's house, because Mom had to take Buddy to show-and-tell at Kate's class. Fun thing, number 1. Then off to preschool. Fun thing, number 2. Not even 9:30 am, and already more fun things than normal. To top it off, friend Crystal's mom called and asked if she could come play after preschool. Three fun things.

Friday was an exceptionally bumper day. To start it off, friends Wyatt and Jace arrived to play for a bit while their Mom headed off to the doctor with their new twin sisters. Two fun things arrived at the doorstep at one time! Within five minutes of their leaving, Crystal arrived to play for a few hours while her mom helped at the school. Three fun things, (and it keeps getting better). Shortly after Crystal left for home, best pal cousin Halle arrived for their weekly playtime-followed-by-ballet date. Five fun things? Could it be possible? If you can believe it, yes! Ballet was followed by Buddy's dog class and ice cream at Charlies.

Seven fun things in one day may be the record so far.

And as for this week?

I'm afraid it's going to be a little bit like that let down people feel in January after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Except, instead of depression, it may involve weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

Heaven help us both.