Some days really are unicorns and rainbows

My kids love each other, there's no doubt about that. Noelle won't let us leave school drop-off until she has hugged and kissed her little brother good-bye. Noah won't leave her alone for a second as she's so much fun to play with. And she is, she makes up incredibly imaginative games and narratives. Granted, they usually end up looking more like running from room to room chasing or being chased by something but the giggles are loud and plentiful. Other days? Hoo boy. It's all we can do to make it to bedtime with a minimum number of meltdowns and tantrums.

Saturday...was not a good day. Noah was in a MOOD. He was whiny and cranky and it didn't help that it was raining, limiting us to indoor activities. With the keen sense that staying home and doing nothing would exacerbate the situation developed over 7 years of parenting nonsense, we planned a moderately full afternoon of activities: haircuts (which they both needed), lunch at Red Robin, a visit to the Disney Store to look around and finally, a viewing of 'Frozen' which I have wanted to see since it opened. (Also, you CANNOT find a Jasmine doll in any store. Noelle managed to lose hers and of course it's the one she wants to play with now. Apparently we used up all of our luck getting a parking space right in front of the theater and I do not have time to stalk stores. 'Aladdin' just needs to hurry up and be re-released already is all I'm saying.) You know, fun stuff. Maybe he suffers from a form of Seasonal Affective Disorder, maybe he wasn't feeling well. Maybe he was just being a right little shit. Who knows? It was rough but we were seeing that movie dammit. I'm an extremely empathetic parent as you can tell.

So between him falling asleep in the car on the way home, getting home at dinnertime and having church/Sunday school the next day, I was already plotting my escape. After Mass we picked up the kids from their Sunday School classrooms; I got Noelle and the first thing she tells me is, 'Mommy, we got candy canes and I have two so I can give one to Noah.' She handed both to me, then took them back saying, 'Look, Mommy! When you put them together they make a heart! That's why I'm giving one to Noah because I love him so much!' And she walked right up to him and told him that. He lit up and hugged her back saying, 'Thank you Noelle! I love you too!' (He really dislikes candy canes so him ignoring that and thanking his sister was a BIG HUGE STEP right there.)

When we got home, the love fest continued. Noelle straight away wanted to write him a letter and decorate it

Yay! Everyone loves love.

It's not only lefties who trail to the right...

then made one for everyone in the house: me, Dylan and even Jinx. Jinx's letter is hanging about her food dish so she'll always know how much Noelle loves her. Then Noah wrote her a letter telling her that he loves her which she has already designated a space for in her room.

Yes, the hallway really is that yellow.

I tiptoed around not wanting to disturb whatever delicate balance of the Force was required to result in such harmonious sibling coexistence.

They played together all afternoon: I was getting ready to go run some errands, they were playing; I was out, they were playing. I returned from Target and the grocery store and interrupted them (still) playing, leading to the dulcet cries of 'What did you get me?' (This time I actually did get them something they didn't need but am hanging onto to until Valentine's Day because what better way to say 'I Love You' than with Monster High dolls?). Putting groceries away: still playing. Chilled out on the couch for a bit before heading to the consignment sale inventory pick up? Still playing. They. Were. Amazing. I guess the key is for mommy to not be around for an afternoon. They could have asked for the world that day and I would have given it to them, that's how awesome they were.

Except the Monster High dolls. Sorry guys, you're waiting until Valentine's Day for those.