A Perfectly Lovely Evening

Last night was one of those evenings, when it's just you and the kids, and it's a really nice time. Mr. Doll had to work yesterday and went out to dinner with a friend. That left me home most of the day with the girls. This is often a recipe for being worn out and cranky (on everyone's part) resulting in too much t.v. and not enough girl time. Yesterday, A was gone for most of the afternoon at a friend's house, and I went to a parenting talk at the library. leaving G at home with a babysitter. I wasn't feeling really well and napped for about 40 minutes when I got home. I broke the bad news to the girls that I wasn't up to going out, but that I would order Italian food, and make a fire. A fire seems fairly benign, but it always seems to improve the mood around here. Maybe we are craving ambiance or heat or both. We ate our dinner, then moved to the living room, sat by the fire, I read and the girls used the laptop in front of the fireplace. A decided she wanted to camp out in the living room. So she got the sleeping bag and near bedtime we read a few chapters of Ivy and Bean. (I love Ivy and Bean books, the adventures of two improbable friends). I knew it was a good night when G laughed at Ivy and Bean, because she always says she doesn't like me reading out loud to her (but it wasn't to her, now was it?) After that A, climbed into her sleeping bag, G read for a while and then climbed onto the couch, and they both fell asleep, while the fire roared, and I read and drank wine. This went on for a quite a while. It was perfectly lovely.