Yo-Yo Yo.

My mom days are exhilarating, exhausting and infuriating. Sometimes, all in the space of 5 or 10 minutes! Today so far has been a good day. I took Noah to school for early morning swimming. Coach Hugo was as welcoming to me and Noah this week as he was to Len and Noah last week. It's good for Noah. He swam some laps, but then spent some time jumping off the side of the pool into the deep end. And I remember when, not so long ago, going underwater was not an option for Noah. Change can be such a beautiful thing...

And Ariel was off to school for a student government meeting. The 10,000th child to receive help from Gift of Life was coming to speak with the government reps. And to top it off, it's Halloween. So my proud, politically engaged daughter put on her Chelsea soccer jersey and went off to school. She was too late to impress Sam with her jersey, but it's sweet that she even wanted to.

And yesterday, when I went to the book fair to buy the book Ariel wanted but didn't have enough money for, I managed to chat with a bunch of folks, all of whom had upbeat things to say. How great for me to hear, and how much better for Ariel.

That reminds me that as I was leaving the middle school this morning, I caught up with Mrs. L, the special ed. teacher in science. She didn't know that we'll be moving Noah next week to a self-contained science class. "I'll miss him," she said. And if I didn't know better, I'd swear I saw tears in her eyes. What can be said about a child like Noah who can't really learn the material, no matter how much Mrs. L modifies it, has only been in her life for about six weeks, and yet has made such an impression?

As for Sam, he awoke from his intense, post-school nap yesterday to mumble at me, "I made All-County." "Good for you Sam," I said. And I think for the first time, he appreciates this kind of recognition, though it's not the first time he's received it.

Who knows what the weekend will bring, but it's a gift to have these good moments. I can't forget that this is the same week in which I told Ariel I wanted to kill her, and that other parents beat their children for less. I'm human. I lose it. She knows it. That's why she's the same child who can go off to school in the morning claiming to be an unhappy child with a terrible life, and sing herself to sleep at night. Yo-Yo indeed...