Mamma Mia wasn’t the wondrous experience I was hoping for, but it was all right. We actually missed the first 20 minutes due to traffic woes, which was unfortunate (I could never live in Vancouver!) but at least we got to see most of it. Plus of course it was a full day without the kids, so that counts for something. But 10 hours of driving for a two-hour show…insane.

Sanity has been restored around here, however, since the kids are in summer camp this week and next. I’m enjoying having the chance to shop and run some errands that I’ve been putting off. I finally sold the rocking chair in Brayden’s room (a holdover from the baby days) and bought some shelving for him, so we finally have somewhere besides the floor to put his books and stuffed animals. I also bought bookshelves for Justin and ordered him an actual student desk so he doesn’t have to squeeze into the plastic picnic table he’s had in his room since he was two. That table is now in Brayden’s room, so everybody is upgrading. It looks awesome — like they’re so grown up!

Justin has been difficult lately but his behavior consultant gave me some tips that should help, so we’ll see. The consultant is actually doing one-on-one sessions with Justin as well as sibling sessions with both boys, so I feel like we’re finally tackling some long-standing problems. What has emerged so far is that Justin’s biggest challenge is being flexible with his brother (and being a good sport when he loses a game); Brayden’s biggest challenge is staying on task. No surprises there. There are only two more sessions, so I might be hoping for a miracle here, but we’ll see what kind of progress we make.

Two weeks (and counting) until grade one begins…