Mommy and Rachel evening

I had tonight off work, and suggested to Drew that he actually take some time for himself and go work out while I picked Rachel up from Summer Laureates, take her to dinner and to her swim lesson, and then come home and put her to bed. He thanked me profusely and stayed at work extra late to finish a project, then came home, grabbed his bags and headed to the gym.

Meanwhile, I picked up Rachel at extended day. We ran into Sidney and Nicole, her mom, and Sidney was having a bit of a tantrum at having to leave for her swim lesson at 6:30. As Rachel and I were walking outside, she said, "I think Sidney's jealous of the parents I have."

"What do you mean?" I asked, astonished.

"Because you're nice to me," she said. "Her parents aren't very nice to her."

I reminded her in the car that Sidney had told her just a few weeks ago that she didn't like us because we were strict and insisted on manners. Rachel couldn't really reconcile that thought in her head, so she just ignored it.

We went to Elevation Burger for dinner and she kept wanting to crawl into my lap and cuddle. I had to remind her several times to to finish her dinner, which she ate very little of. After we got to the parking lot of Marymount University and were walking toward the pool, she grabbed me again, let out a sob and said, "Mama!" and added, "I miss you."

"I'm right here, sweetie," I replied. What's the matter sweetie? Please tell me what's the matter."

Then I thought of something.

"Are you upset that we're out of our routine?" I said. "That you're getting used to having Mommy home a lot?"

She nodded and said, again, that she wished I didn't have to work.

"Mommy and Daddy both have to work," I reminded her. Then we tabled the conversation.

She's doing quite well in swim lessons -- her backstroke looks terrific, her freestyle is really coming along and when Taylor, her swim instructor, asked her to tread water for 1 1/2 minutes, Rachel said, "How about TWO?" "Um, okay!" Taylor said, surprised, and darned if Rachel didn't do it. (Sidney watched the whole time -- she was still there when we arrived, and Nicole let her stay to watch Rachel swim for a bit.) As we were coming out, we saw the security guards playing a game of horseshoes. I suggested we watch for a bit, and they were kind enough to let her participate.

Afterward I took her to get frozen yogurt at the place she and Drew usually go -- she knows the owner's name by now and he was quite friendly to her -- and then found out that Toby's, the ice-cream place near our house, was still open. But as we approached it we saw that the Italian Store, which has gelato, was open, too. "Get gelato, Mommy," Rachel suggested. "We can go to Toby's anytime!"

I did get the gelato -- hazelnut and pistachio -- and it was delicious.