This Saturday started out like any other – Chloe’s swim lessons at the YMCA. I can’t believe she’s actually maintained interest in the swimming for about a year now. It’s rare that she’s not enthusiastic about going. After the lesson, we both had our hair cut at my salon. She was patient and well-behaved the entire time (about 2 hours when all was said and done – I needed to have my gray hair erased), and ended up with a nice ‘do to boot. Her first decent haircut in years. That, of course, put me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

We left my husband and Sophie to fend for themselves for lunch and a nap. Chloe and I went out for a bite, bought Chloe a pair of shoes and some gifts for friends’ upcoming birthday parties. And we topped off the afternoon with an outing to the local paint-your-own-ceramics studio, where Chloe diligently painted a “sculpture” of a mermaid and seahorse. I just watched, because had I “helped,” I would have had to pay $7 paint time as well. And that just struck me as silly.

Chloe didn’t seem to mind – in fact, my inability to assist was probably a good thing, since she didn’t expect me to and she remained calm almost the entire time (except for a minute after she realized she used the wrong color to paint the mermaid’s fish scales).

We arrived home – happy and relaxed. The rest of the afternoon was similarly low-key and stress-free. Very little screaming. A small incident at dinner – Chloe was expecting different pasta from what I actually served and got a little teary-eyed. But we managed to quell the simmering anger quickly and painlessly.

The continued good humor lasted into the evening and boy, am I feeling good. Why can’t it be like this everyday? Or at least two times a week? Will this happy cheer last through tomorrow? In theory, it should. I’ve planned our annual Easter egg hunt, after all. But I’m not holding my breath. Two days in a row is probably too much to ask.