The house should be clean. It's not. The papers should be graded. They're not. The plans should be written. Not even close. The children should be healthy and well groomed. I settle for kids that aren't screaming. Not done -- none of it. Yet I work my ass off. Every day. All day. Except for tonight, I turned on the TV and sat there, with nary a thing on my lap to do, and watched TV for an hour. Can not remember the last time I watched TV. (Minus watching an episode of Two and Half Men in syndication with my head on Pat's shoulder this week or last even though I think that show is absurd, but that's not TV -- that's couples therapy.)

And there are two daffodils blooming, randomly, in the trees behind our house. And I ate a plate of tortilla chips with melted cheese, jalapeno peppers, adobe salsa, and spicy ranch dressing for dinner...at 10 pm...with a glass of cheap wine. And my son, he was a little sick today, will be fine tomorrow. But, today, he wanted to be held, with his head on my shoulder, with his cheek pressed as close to my head as possible for extra kisses. I love extra kisses. And my daughter, my eternally clumsy daughter, can suddenly stand on her head, do a forward roll, and complete a flip on the bar hanging from the swing set. She is so proud. Maybe the torture of keeping her brother entertained during her 30 minute dance/tumbling class each week, started in hopes of improving her agility, is actually paying off. And tomorrow is the last day before spring break. And I've already decided, I'm not going to scold them for talking too much, not completing their work quickly enough, or being too silly. Tomorrow should be silly. And Sunday we'll board a plane. Destination sunshine, where the old people, two in particular, love our kids as much as we do and don't even mind getting up at 6 am to feed them bananas and soy milk.

Spring -- the eternal remedy.