Phone home...

The backdrop:

Patrick is on his way to Seattle, so I'm on single parent duty.
Monday nights are dance, and Harmony's friend Emi comes home with her after school until dance (they're in the same class).

The big kids get off the bus at 4, have a snack, play, help me decorate some Christmas cookies for a school event tomorrow, and change into their dance clothes. We're heading out the door to pick up Hope, bring Henry to a playdate, and the big girls to dance when the phone rings. Rather than being late for our carefully orchestrated pick up/drop off dance, I bring the phone out to the car with me.

I'm glad I did--it's Henry's playdate, needing to cancel. That's fine, but Henry is disappointed (to be expected).

So I go to the Greenhouse to pick up Hope. I even manage to not forget my cell phone, which I've actually had with me, on and charged all day, since Patrick is traveling.

When I drop the girls off at dance, I hear my phone ring. I check it--3 missed calls! All from the Greenhouse. I didn't even know they had my number! So I call back...the phone in my hand turns out not to be mine; rather, it's Hope's teacher's phone! My phone is in my pocket...oops. So back to the Greenhouse we go...

On the way home from round 2 at the Greenhouse, Henry decides he'd like to stay at home instead of hanging out at the dance studio. Our house is three blocks away, and we have some very responsible tenants in the upstairs apartment. Henry is well versed in the "stay at home" rules since he's been practicing with Patrick in his office, so I agree to it, on the condition that he call me after 10 minutes to make sure he's ok. Henry's excited to get to be big enough to stay at home alone (even if it's not really "alone", and only for 20 minutes).

So I drop him off at home and go back to the dance studio. They're working on a Christmas recital, and I've learned that if you don't stay for the lesson, you miss crucial information...including having to learn the dance with the girls :| As I get out...I notice the house phone sitting in the cup holder! Ugh, pack Hope back into the carseat and venture back home.

I'm not sure how many miles I drove this afternoon between the Greenhouse, dance studio and home...good thing they're both less than half a mile away!