Two on One

As you may recall, Mama is working this weekend, having left home around 5 a.m. this morning with plans to be home by dinner, maybe. So, I'm on my own with the kids today, which isn't too different from our usual Monday through Fridays, except that we didn't see Mama at wake-up.

And today we had a special outing, to have breakfast with the firefighters, which we enjoyed greatly last year. Except Bud and Sis both remembered the "smoke house" where kids go into a special trailer, learn about safety, hear the fire alarm go off, and then crawl out of the house as it fills with smoke. They did fine last year, until they were separated during the window exit and Bud panicked. And he panicked this year just seeing the trailer. And while the pancakes were good and crawling over all the trucks was fun, he couldn't quite shake his fear of the trailer.

Then, there was the fire demonstration which Sis was really keen on seeing; Bud was terrified. And there I was, literally being pulled in two directions, facing a difficult decision: gratify the curiosity of Sis and see something new and interesting, or respect Bud's fears and stay back. There was no middle ground--where Bud wanted to stand, Sis couldn't see--I couldn't do a "zone" defense. And "man-to-man" only works if your numbers are equal. Thankfully, Mama Teacher and family were there too and helped with dividing up the kiddos (thanks, Mama Teacher!).

I asked her afterwards if, as a professional educator, she had a suggestion in such situations and she didn't. Generally, when the kids and I go on outings, it's to activities that don't have so many choices (sure, you can walk different ways through the department store, but there aren't usually any time constraints, need to go in a special order, or fear of what we're doing). So, I haven't had much experience with coping with being in two places at once.

Which makes today yet another "appreciate Mama" day.