Let's Compare Days

This voicemail transcription is from June, 2002 from my sister. My how things have changed. I received this voicemail while in Hawaii with our good friends the Chapmans. Daniel and I were newly married, just 11 months in, and were on vacation in Hawaii. Niki had just had her second child, Trey, in May. It's hysterical for me to re-read this, and thankfully I wrote every word down before I deleted it. What brought this to my attention is that as I sit here at home on this Friday night, tracking Daniel's intercontinental flight, I compared our days in my head. He's been in Paris under the Eiffel Tower, I've been in Social Circle. He's flown 11 hours non-stop to Salt Lake City, had dinner and a movie with adults, I've taught 7 third graders 5 days straight. He's walked in to a nice, clean hotel room and I've herded cats, I mean kids, out the door and left many a trail. So comparing days is JUST NOT REALLY IDEAL, is it??? I'm not jealous, I mean that. I just am observant. Just aware of the situation, that's all. He's been gone since Tuesday and won't be home till Sunday.



Here it is:



"Okay it's Niki, it's Monday morning about 9. Let's compare days: So far, I got up at midnight, I got up at 3. I've been up since 6. I've put a whiny child (big sister Kate, age 5) back to bed already because she's been whining my head off. I've started a load of laundry, I've cleaned up my kitchen, and now I'm about to sit down and make a grocery list. YOU on the other hand, oh, and it looks like it's about to rain. It's nasty and you know Macon stinks when it rains. You on the other hand probably haven't gotten up yet, but if you have you're enjoying a leisurely breakfast I'm sure at a nice hotel IN HAWAII and probably going to spend some time out in the sun or something fun & romantic, maybe a nice brunch with friends, no children involved, then at your leisure you'll fly back to Atlanta and come back to your home where there again are no children involved and you will enjoy a relaxing summer. So I have an idea to prepare you for what might one day be your life: Next Thursday...."



Yeah, she was right about how we were spending our days in Hawaii. She then went on to describe how she needed my help running a day camp at her house where she and her friends had come up with a way to have 8 summer days kid free at the expense of one full day of all eight kids at your house. Well, of course I did it and "life guarded" all 8 of the "rugrats" as she called them, helped with crafts and lunch, and they went home happy and tired. It was a great idea that I intend to copy next summer, call me to sign yours up! But oh how quickly that one day became my life and I began to do the same thing. I began to compare days. We all do. It's a bad habit we should all break, because when it comes down to it, we generally compare our day to someone we think has it better than we do. Why don't we compare our day to someone who doesn't. Maybe then we'll become a little more grateful, not that we aren't most days.



I just thought about that conversation/message tonight as I was tempted to "compare days." Mine is minutes from ending. Daniel's still flying; he has 6 hours to go. I'm going to get in bed, where there is a cute red head waiting for me! His name is Cameron, and he's 5, is wearing shark pj's and has 3 band aids on his knees over which he's protecting small suspected ringworm sites from spreading.

Nitey nite!