So I’ve been getting the kids pumped up all morning in preparation for our first “pool playgroup”. They both adore going swimming these days, and this was to be the first time their friends would join us on such an outing. My playgroup moms were even nice enough to change the venue to the pool my kids like the best after I talked to them about it. We have our suits on, we’re walking out the door, I go to grab my keys….they’re not there.
Damn, I realize I brought them with me out to the van when the fam went to Costco last night, and that I put them in my diaper bag when Barney volunteered to drive. Then, without thinking, (because usually I wouldn’t even have to think about it because they’d be in my hands) we all went in the house and my keys stayed behind.
It would have been great if I had discovered that my keys weren’t on the hook before Barney left this morning, but I was too busy shaving my legs for the POOL! 
So, after discovering that we were stranded here for the day, I did something incredibly unfair, that I shouldn’t have. I called Barney and vented my anger on him, basically blaming him for me having left my keys in the car and not remembering to grab them before he left. I know, I know, I suck, but I was so frustrated standing there with the kiddos looking crushed and teary eyed.
It was totally my fault. And it gets worse. We would usually have the valet key in our messy drawer in the kitchen, that I could go grab to unlock the car and retrieve my keys. Where was the valet key one might ask? In my jacket pocket IN THE VAN from last week when I forgot to grab my keys after Barney had driven. Yes, honestly.
At this point in our morning, I was incredibly grumpy, extremely short fused, and decided the day was completely shot (I’m going to insert a blame on hormones here, because I’m not normally that childish, just this particular week if you catch my drift). So I called my sister to see if she wanted to come visit us during our period of “strandedness”.
And of course, talking to her made me feel much better, and she even came up with a great solution to fill our morning and replace our pool outing! She suggested the kiddos just jump in the bathtub with their suits on. Their own little mini-pool! The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, and I wasn’t completely convinced it would cheer the kids up, but lo and behold, it worked. They thought it was the coolest thing ever, and we put some new toys they’d never had in there before….they had a great time! So thank you to Auntie Chloe for saving the day! And thank you to Barney for putting up with his tantrum-throwing wife this morning. 
I love you guys.
