Home for a Day

Thursday, Timm got to experience his first full day on the Line while I stayed home with the kids. It’s funny how after only a few days of being out of our normal routine, trying to take care of day to day stuff seems so foreign. Just doing three loads of laundry and washing the dishes seemed like an enormous feat. I packed the kids’ overnight bags so they could stay with my parents for the next several days. I also needed to secure a few extra things for the camp out in preparation of overnight temperatures dipping down to freezing.

I wish I had left my camera with Timm while he held down our place in Line. I got a text from him in the afternoon letting me know about the kindergarten class coming out and serenading the Line. I wish I could have seen it and gotten photos to share with you! Sorry, no photos for this post.

But, yeah, being out of the routine is rough. The kids having to sleep away from home so much (on top of the time change recently) is wreaking havoc on their moods and behavior. Sleeping outside in the cold, on the ground, is wreaking havoc on my mood and the way I respond to my children. Across the board, this is causing an enormous amount of stress for all involved. I miss my kids terribly, but Thursday I was getting so easily frustrated with them! I know they miss me in a huge way, and I regret that I wasn’t more patient with them during our day together. Once all this is said and done, it is going to take a long time to shift gears back to the norm. 

I know I am doing the right thing by enduring this long, unusual, wait in Line. These 10 crazy days will be a small price to pay for making sure my kids get the best possible foundation for their future. Some people camp out outside of stores for a good price on a video game or concert tickets. Or camp out in a park to make some sort of statement about our economy. Those of us in Line are camping out because we are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure our kids have an opportunity for a better future. There will be a tangible and lifelong impact for the better as a result of our "occupation". Who really is the crazy one?

Maybe by the time I finally manage to get the campfire odor washed out of my hair, things will finally settle back into place.