Little e at our house

Having e and her parents at our house for nearly two weeks provided some insight for all of us.  For instance, Randy saw how schedule-driven E and K's life is.  Medication three times a day means someone must be available and aware of those times; it's mostly routine now but still if we go out in the afternoon the med must go with us.  And going to a movie at night requires planning.  Putting e to bed at about the same time each night means thinking ahead.  Is it bath night?  Is K on his way home so he can see e and play with her before bed? And so on.  When our children were infants, I didn't work full time, and Randy's hours were somewhat flexible.

I enjoyed the cooler weather, walks along the lagoon, pointing out Mallard ducks and Canada geese to e.  We could walk comfortably any time of day.

I felt I did more since it was my house.  I did the grocery shopping and cooked the meals, both because I enjoy doing so and because I wanted to give E a break.  And she appreciated that.  I changed their sheets and towels when I changed ours.  I sewed a bit on the nine-patch quilt but not as much as I had envisioned doing.

E and K drove their new SUV up.  I drove it twice.  The main problem I had was getting e out of the car while she was buckled in to her car seat.  Her infant seat clicks into a base that remains in the car; e's 16 or 17 pounds plus the seat is heavy and awkward for me.  I might have taken e on errands with me if I had been more adept with the car seat.  I guess I need to practice with just the seat, to become familiar with that, then with e in the seat.  E's car is a sedan and easier for me to deal with, not that we run around much.  E and K are talking about another long visit to us in August.

Sunday night, after we were all back in Phoenix, E said the visit home gave her a better understanding of what things were like for me at their house.  At our house she was comfortable, had meals prepared for her, had things to do, was with family.  But back in her own place, she said, "There's no place like home."  And it's true.