Housebound

I have a confession to make: Ian didn't leave the house today. Granted, it's not even 4pm here yet, but I can, with some amount of certainty, say that Ian will not be going outside today. And given that it's always my goal to take him out on at least one outing a day, means that today I failed. Now the part about this that concerns me isn't necessarily that he did not leave the house on this one particular day, but more that it might be a sign of things to come.

You see, all summer long as Ian and I were out and about - going to the zoo, going to the fountain at Jamison Square, going to the park, going to the pool, etc., etc. - I kept having this thought in the back of my mind that would creep out every now and then: What will you do when winter comes? How are you going to occupy your two-year-old then? I mean, let's face it - there are just some days when this kid makes the Energizer Bunny look like a couch potato.

I did not mean for this to happen on this particular day (not to mention so soon after winter started). Really, I didn't. But I did suspect that today might be a little "off" because we changed our schedule a bit. And you know how I like schedule changes. So, this morning Jeff watched him while I went downtown for a "meet and greet" with an agency to talk about opportunities to work with them on a freelance basis. It was about 10:30 a.m. when I got home and, as usual, it was raining. Just one of those days where we woke up to the sound of rain pouring down the downspout outside our bedroom window and it hasn't really stopped all day. Not even for a schizophrenic sun break.

The whole way home I had been thinking, "Okay what are we going to do today that's inside?" (Though, in the back of my mind what I was really thinking is: Here we go, that winter creativity is now officially being tested!) OMSI? Ugh. It will be packed because it's Veterans Day and every school kid in town will be there. Children's Museum? Another ugh. Same thing. The Forestry Center? Mmmm....sounds kinda boring. Open play gym at the rec center? (Which is what we normally do after Tuesday sports class anyway, which by the way, was canceled today because of the holiday.) Well, it's wet outside and I don't really feel like driving over there. Plus, Ian seems to be developing yet another case of the sniffles, so perhaps it's not a good idea to have him around a lot of kids.

Once Jeff left for work, I started checking email and taking care of things around the house while still pondering this yet-to-be-determined grandiose event we were eventually going to undertake today. Meanwhile, unlike the typical craziness that ensues if we aren't out doing something by mid-morning, he actually seemed to be quite content playing with his trains, cooking up some gourmet meals and other activities. And before I knew it - it was lunchtime! So of course we couldn't go out at that point because we needed to make lunch. Maybe afterwards we'd do something, I thought. You know, before afternoon "rest time". But lunch was finished and I just kept looking outside. And it looked dark. And chilly. And wet. And the bottom line was that I just didn't feel like dealing with it all. Plus, Ian still looked as though he was surviving just fine playing inside the house. So, that's what he did until it was time to go upstairs.

In other words, what I'm really trying to say is that it could be a long winter.

Until I write again.
PS - Even Zach looked depressed about the weather today. And he's usually pretty upbeat.