Bonus Time

Nine days ago I began the process of trying to plan the girls' schedule for today. As a single mom this should be easy; I'm the only adult in my household. It should be, but for me this is a nightmare!

Two of my three girls were scheduled to be dismissed from school at 11:30am, and this is their father's weekend. The order reads that he receives custody of our children from "after school" on Friday. My understanding when I agreed to this wording was that "after school" was intended to mean all of my children would return home to me on Fridays. The girls would grab a quick snack, change clothes, and with weekend bags in hand head over to see their father when his workday ended. What seemed reasonable to agree with in court was not the other party's intent. He insists upon picking up our children from school the moment school dismisses around 2:30pm. I am not pleased, but I have made peace with this.

When this clarification was made in court, two of our children were not enrolled in a full day school. We "agreed" upon a default custody exchange time of 3pm. Conveniently his attorney wrote the order and failed to include the 3pm wording, or the fact that pickup from school was only intended for children who attended school for a full day.

I'm sure you can guess where this is going ... 5 days of no response, followed by 3 days of conflict. Just when I thought for sure I was going to lose yet another day of life with my children something miraculous happened. The one who knows my heart and hears my cries stepped in and saved the day! He gave ME the gift of an ice storm which resulted in cancelled school and bonus time with my children.

What is "after school" when there is no school? I suppose it could be whatever I want it to be, but today it was 3pm (as usual) because that's what God and I both know I "agreed" to.


I WILL Praise Him in THIS Storm!


After the school called last night we voted on how to spend our bonus time. The outcome was a late night snuggling up and watching a movie together, and today we had a play date with our neighbors.