I went to pick Penny up from daycare yesterday, and the class was playing outside. Penny had discarded her coat, and since it was fairly warm, I didn't make her put it back on. Penny's friend Savannah started to take her coat off, but she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so I told her to put it back on, and I crouched down to help her zip it up.

Instantly, I was surrounded by toddlers who wanted me to help them zip up their coats. Seriously. At least four of them. It was kind of cute.

My parents came over to have dinner with us and help watch Penny so I could run errands. Dad brought two pints of Ben and Jerry's. "The car made me do it," he said.

And it's not like he and Mom had conspired or anything, because she brought Penny a couple of Oreos.

So when we'd finished dinner, I made a quick run to the grocery store for a couple of things I needed before the weekend, so I wouldn't be tempted. But our grocery store is less than half a mile from the house, and I only needed two things. So when I got back, this is what I found:

Between the mulch from the playground and the ice cream, Penny really needed a bath, even if it hadn't been a regular bath night. Offered the choice, Penny asked for my mom to give her the bath. So Mom led her up the stairs while I cleaned up the ice cream mess.

Mom called down only a minute later -- she couldn't figure out how to get the stopper in our tub to work. It's not especially intuitive. I went upstairs to show her, and the instant I stepped into the bathroom, Penny was indignant. "NO! MOMMY GO 'WAY! GWAMMA DO IT! GWAMMA DO IT! MOMMY GO 'WAY!"

I closed the tub drain, and fled as ordered.

So we're approaching our first solo weekend. It'll be interesting. I'm a little more concerned about the weekend than I've been about the weekdays -- the weekends are more tiring even when Matt's around to run interference.

But I've had plenty of offers of help. My parents, of course, are more than delighted to watch Penny just about any time -- with or without me around. (They'd prefer "without.") So I'm figuring on taking Penny to their place for at least one afternoon every weekend, which I may or may not use to run errands on my own.

My brother's wife called last night to see how we were getting along, and she said her schedule was a little difficult to work with (she teaches music lessons, many of which are in the evening) but that I shouldn't hesitate to call if I needed some help and they'd help if they possibly could. (I'll probably take them up on that at least a couple of times, if only because Penny adores John and Sam.)

I had email from Kris, saying she and Braz were offering to take Penny for a few hours once a week. (Though Braz was under the impression that Matt wasn't gone until next month.)

And K.T. has volunteered to come up a couple of times, if only to give Penny someone to play with, and me someone to talk to who's capable of sentences longer than three words.

Hurrah for family and friends! So we'll be fine. Y'all send your well-wishes and prayers in Matt's direction.

--Liz