missing

I am a creature of habit. I seek out organization, and I shudder at chaos.

One of the many morning routines at my house on a school morning happens in the car. Pulling out of the garage, I ask, "Two backpacks?" and two voices answer, "Check!". One bucket? Check. Three happy girls eating their breakfast? Not always three voices answer this one, maybe because I need to put the car back in the garage and grab someone's breakfast off the table, or maybe because not everyone is happy. With all four of us going to the same place each and every day, this is my easy way of making sure we have every needed item before we leave the driveway. This morning, however, all my questions were "checked", and then I asked, "Anything missing?" One small, quiet voice from the back of the van (Reagan), answered, "Yeah. My Daddy." Not sure if she heard the very audible and heavy sigh from the front of the van (me).

Rewind button to about 10 minutes prior to leaving the garage. Another routine is for me to place all these needed items by the door to the garage. Each kid grabs their own stuff on their way to the car. If something is forgotten, it won't be my fault. McKinley was supposed to take her favorite Christmas toy to preschool today for show and tell, and I told her to put whatever that was in her bucket before she got dressed. She fell asleep early on the couch last night, so I didn't know what she was planning on taking. Pillow Pet? Strawberry Shortcake remote control car? Kaleidoscope? I peeked in her bucket to make sure there weren't any contraband items hiding out in there. Sometimes she likes to try and smuggle extra toys, candy, etc. to preschool, so I always have to double check that kid. Out of all her Christmas presents, do you know what wound up in her bucket? The framed picture that sits beside her bed, the one we had taken over Christmas break of her, her sisters, and her Daddy. That was what she wanted to show and tell her classmates and teachers about.

Just a few minutes ago, I read Aaron's blog post from last night (when I crawled into bed last night, he hadn't posted anything). His post is titled "Missing My Girls", and you can read it at www.aaron-conger.blogspot.com. Sounds like we're all thinking with the same hearts.

Aaron, your girls (all four of them) miss you, more than you know.