Friday is my favorite day of the week. It’s my day with the grandchildren. My daughter gets a break from trying to juggle the children, the business, and the house. She catches up on phone calls and holds meetings uninterrupted by crying, changing diapers and trying to keep the stairs clear of toys so no one big or small takes a tumble.

I start at about 9am. I feed and play with the children, clean up the kitchen, do a little laundry and help with anything else I can. That way, at the end of her workday, Mom does not have to think about catching up with all that stuff too — at least for today.

The morning always goes smoothly. After lunch, the trick is to get 6 month old Camille’s attention away from her brother and get her ready for her nap. A little singing and cuddling and she is down for a few hours. Now it’s time to negotiate with Kayden.

We go up to his room and I read him a story. This immediately quiets him. He loves to read. But today Kayden just can not seem to settle down. He flip-flops across the bed and playfully dives head first into his pile of pillows. Well, Nana just happened to be on one of those pillows and we knocked noggins. A few tears later, he calms down enough to almost get to sleep. Alas, now he is doing his sneaky little backward scoot toward the end of the bed. He thinks Nana will not notice because my eyes are closed. I am pretending to be asleep in hopes he will take the cue. It’s difficult to hold in my laughter and I love every crazy minute of it.

About 30 minutes later, Kayden and I drift quietly down the stairs, disheveled but smiling, Kayden with an egg on his forehead and a look of satisfaction and Nana with a bruise on her cheek and a sigh of defeat.

It’s 4 p.m. and mom has had a very productive day. She can close up shop and finally take a shower. I now need another shower. I have been spit up on, spilled on, sweaty and my hair looks like I just crawled out of bed. I have learned not to wear makeup on Fridays.

Mom calls me upstairs to the bathroom. She looks all glowing and refreshed and asks if I want to go out to dinner with her and the children. Dad is going to the races tonight and she needs to get out of the house. “Well ok, I can run home, change clothes and we can go.”

“What’s that on your head, Mom?” I glance in the mirror. There is a purple stripe across my forehead. “Uh, I pulled a marker from under the couch … I have no idea how it got on my forehead.”

There we stood, looking at each other in the mirror, Mom all fresh, me a mess; then we just laughed. “If you’re really tired, Mom, you don’t have to go.”

How I love those babies! But I have to admit I am thankful to go home at the end of the day.

Nana Jean