The Rascal’s fever broke! The Rascal’s fever broke! HALLELUJAH! But, now he has a rash. And, he’s all mommy-itis all the time — breaking out in spontaneous EHHHHHHHH EH EH EH EHHHEEEEEs!

He’s definitely still not himself. Still not eating either — which scares me A LOT because his sister’s the pickiest eater IN THE WORLD, and so I dread the day (should it arrive) that my little Swedish shoveler starts pushing the food away.

This rash is insane, though. Check these cheeks (keeping in mind that camera did not do it any justice):

Yes, I know. As bestie JL says, I “breed children with big cheeks.” I don’t know where the cheeks come from. My cheeks aren’t particularly pudgy, nor are Josh’s. But, it’s true. Both my kids have big cheeks. It’s the best, I have to tell you, because they look like babies longer than other regular-sized-cheek children.

Did I just digress? I did, didn’t I? We were talking about THE RASH. (Boy, that’s an exciting topic! Glurgh!)

Because this rash showed up after several days of HIGH fever, doc determined that Rascal has Roseola.

This is really good news, actually, because a) Roseola’s very typical, and b) because, now that we know what’s going on with him, I didn’t have to do the whole pee sampling thing.

Since I’d planned our day (well, I don’t DO planning, but…, you know…) around the pee sampling, and we no longer had to DO the sampling, we had a WHOLE day of NOTHING before us.

So, thank GOD, it was raining.

Rain. I LOVE THE RAIN. When it rains, I feel SO much less guilty turning the TV on. When it rains, they are SLEEPY. Seriously, who DOESN’T love the rain? Or, better yet, what (stay-at-home) parent doesn’t LOVE the rain?

Yes, today, dark rainy today, I did something wonderful for myself. I gave myself permission to be the CRAPPIEST STAY-AT-HOME-MOM EVAH. I let the kids pretty much do whatever they wanted — as long as I got to do what I wanted. When monkey wanted ONLY almonds for lunch? Sure! No prob. When she wanted to watch Ratatouille for the 57 trillionth time? Sure! No prob.

More apple juice, Monkey? Coming right up! Rascal, want another Mum Mum? Crying? How ’bout a boooooobie (even though I’m WEENING you). Kvetching? Sorry hon. Not picking you up this time. Mama needs to chill!

Really it was pretty good. A pretty good day. I feel relatively relaxed. And, you know what? Deep thought:


I spend SO much time and energy pressuring myself: to eat right, to mother right, to make great dinners, to write worthy blog posts, to look good, exercise, clean house, sell art, teach yoga. Constant pressure. I’m going to BURST from all this constant pressure. Letting go of the mothering pressure today REALLY opened my eyes to all the self-pressuring I do. And, I let it ALL go. So that eating right, for example, was a pleasure rather than a fight today. Gosh, no wonder I’m STILL carrying all this pregnancy weight: It’s all the PRESSURE! I’m literally a BALLOON!


Like this painting? There’s more at my own little business, Kids Deserve Art! Thank you!

Maybe if I deflate a little, in all areas, I’ll lose the weight, too? Hmmmm…. Very. Curious.

And, you know what, Gorgeouses? Even though I slacked off today, Monkey still connected the dots….

…Rascal took THREE naps (that’s a world record in our house, Gorgeouses!), AND cleaned the house….

…And, all the while, nobody judged me….

Permission to slack off, Gorgeouses — it’s a GOOD THING.

Love! xo Haley-O

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