Tonight was my choir rehearsal night. It’s one of my two regular weekly activities that serve to restore my soul. The other is my voice lesson, so they’re both about singing. (That’s tomorrow).

But today’s rehearsal was a little complicated. Dad left early this morning (really early!) to spend the day with our niece in Orlando, Florida, where she is in her freshman year of college. He’s coming back late tonight (in fact, he may have just landed), but it put me in charge of both the morning routine, including packing lunches, which Dad usually does, and the evening pickup and dinner. And then getting to choir rehearsal with the help of our wonderful local babysitter.

Remember how clingy J is, these days? (Have I mentioned that? More on that later, if not).

There’s a delicate balance, I find, in prepping the boys for a babysitter, and starting too early and creating undue anxiety. Well, with J, these days, I don’t think there’s a winning strategy.

I picked him up from school first, and he was delighted to see me both at the beginning and the end of the day. We got loaded in the car, and went and picked up his brother, S. We drove home, and I allowed them some TV time (not a usual occurrence midweek) – educational-only – while I started dinner. Educational started with Diego (Go, Diego, Go), but there was no Diego to be had on live or on-demand. We rejected Dora, the Explorer, and then we ended up with Animal Planet, a show about baby animals. J didn’t like it, and S was doing his homework, so we switched over to the only acceptable and available option – Rugrats (is that educational?? I fear not). But it did keep J quiet. S got a lot of homework done, and the episode of Rugrats ended, and dinner was ready. And then, the doorbell rang, and our prompt babysitter had arrived.

J immediately went into clingy mode!

I don’t want to relive the details. But I finally got out the door, figuring he would calm down, like kids do, in five minutes, at most, and the night would be fine.

Poor babysitter!!

Apparently, he cried until he fell asleep, in his clothes, without brushing his teeth (and no diaper, which I forgot to tell her about).

But, then, he started coughing. And, he coughed and coughed, and she thought he was having trouble breathing. I can relate! J has had mild reactive airways disease since we brought him home, and he seems to be having a little post-viral syndrome reactivity the last couple of days. I had been thinking this summer about giving away our nebulizer, but have been using it on him recently to deal with this cough. Sadly, it didn’t occur to me to warn the babysitter. I think the crying jag may have twigged the coughing a bit.

So, I got home, after a lovely evening of singing, and J was peacefully asleep on the couch. After bidding the babysitter goodnight (and the best part was that she drives now, so I didn’t have to drive her home!!), I carried J upstairs, and changed him into his Jammie’s (with pull-up). Amazingly, he can sleep through all this.

And then, about an hour later, he had another coughing jag, and I pulled out the nebulizer to administer the bronchodilator. And, now, he’s sleeping peacefully.

And, I’m waiting to welcome Dad home. Tomorrow will be an easier day, I hope.