I'm Entertaining Ideas For Better Ways To Provide Water For The Children. Currently, The Backyard Hose Is In The Lead, But That's Only Because I Can't Find A Trough That Works With Our Decor.

I carried 14 glasses all at once down a flight of stairs and into the kitchen this morning.  I looked like the Cat in the Hat on that infamous rainy day with Sally and her brother.  It was pretty impressive, really, but it felt like failure.  The kids should have brought those glasses downstairs themselves.  But, parenting sometimes is about who blinks first.  And this time, it was me.

I'm a big water drinker and I can get through an entire day, amazingly enough, using only one glass to feed my addiction.  The kids, on the other hand, treat our kitchen like a water station in a marathon.  They run in, grab a glass, and leave it behind.  I'd use Dixie cups if I didn't think after throwing back a cup of water, they'd just crumple it up and toss it over their shoulder as they ran on.  And because I like everyone to have some water with them with they go to bed, their bedside tables are filled with so many glasses they look like a shelf at Williams-Sonoma.  It was the combo of the single servings throughout the day and a build-up of nighttime waters that led to my defeat.

I've asked the kids several times to bring down all the glasses from their rooms so we could replenish the supply in our kitchen.  I asked nicely at first, then I tried humor, and finally a bit of anger.  None of it worked - the multitude of glasses in their rooms remained.  So when I went to get my first glass of water for the day, my container options were a stained coffee mug the color of hospital walls that was once in Geoff's office kitchen, or a slightly-oversized Tequila Rose shot glass that came in a mystery six pack of designer beers from our local liquor store.  It was unacceptable on many levels.  My love of water and non-depressing glassware won out and in a fit of desperation I gathered up every drinking vessel I could find around the house.  I filled most of the dishwasher with my harvest.

So they got me.  I lost the battle, but least I'm not drinking from a measuring cup.

I'm wearing this.

I love this shirt - it feels very French countryside.  If it cools off tonight I'm going to throw the leopard cardigan over it.  The pattern mix is a daring one and I'm hoping it doesn't just read 'crazy woman in the French countryside'.

gratitude:  Udi's Italian Wheat bread, mini-Altoids, fall colors, Friday afternoon

thanks and love.