Slowing down for happiness

Due to my four a.m. baking blitz yesterday and non-stop life the last few days, I was simply exhausted yesterday.  I moved in slow motion most of the day, but found blessings in that.
After I walked Claire to school yesterday, I kissed her bye in the hallway and just stopped to take a breath before heading back home.  I stayed in the hallway watching her walk away with pride.  Another girl was waiting on her to go down the hallway and hugged her good morning and then they held hands all the way down the hall.  This is a girl who Claire had problems with before.  She and I had talked extensively about it, brain-storming ways to fix the situation and eventually I began to send lunch notes to Claire and a separate one for the other girl.  To see the girl naturally hug Claire good morning and to see them giggling and holding hands down the hallway nearly made me cry.  Love does always win.
I took a few minutes with Paul to begin cleaning his room which looks like a tornado blew through it.  Of course, the entire house looks that way now, so I don't know why I am disappointed in his end.  This 15 minutes I spent with him on his room didn't end the problem, or even get it to a manageable clean yet, but it did allow him enough room to be able to play later in the day.  When we went to pick up Claire in the afternoon, he said, "Awww, man!  I didn't have enough time to play in my room!"  Hearing that made me smile.
After I took Paul to preschool, I was driving home thinking and praying and journaling at red lights.  A car in the left lane was driving ten miles below speed limit, but I was in no hurry, so I followed suit.  A few minutes later I realized a policeman had been right behind me for quite a while, but since I was going under the speed limit, I didn't have a chance of getting a ticket.  He was probably frustrated I was driving so slow and hit the gas to whip around me.
I registered Paul for kindergarten, which took much longer than I anticipated, but that allowed me to talk to each and every staff person involved, offering cookies and begging for placement in a particular class.  They aren't allowed to take requests, but I gave one anyway, and I am hopeful that it will be granted.  Watching the hustle and bustle of the school office and the anxiety and hope in all the new parents' faces filled me with pride and contentment.
I spent some time at Subway, and since I was the only customer buying lunch at 10:15 in the morning, I was able to chat with the employees and be particular about what went in my sandwich.  It was just another part of moving slowly and benefiting from that.
I had lunch with Claire and she sat in my lap for nearly the whole time.  She pointed out who her teacher will be next year and students who were good and bad.  She updated me on each lesson she had listened to that day and recounted all the details in a funny story the substitute shared about stepping on a frog.
When I picked up Paul, I told him we were going on a secret field trip, and walked him down the block to Curly's Custard, where he fished all the gummy bears out of the custard, licking each one off to perfection before showing it to me and then eating it.  I think he might  have eaten three bites of custard, but all the gummy bears.  He also pulled some race cars out of his backpack and showed me how to race them.  His tiny fire truck was placed in the decorative fountain where we discovered that it knew how to swim and didn't sink to the bottom.
There was more fun in the day....a nap, laundry, cooking dinner, and closing the evening with reading my book, but the best part of my day was that I wasn't in a hurry the entire day.  I was exhausted and knew I could only do one task at a time, so I did it merrily.  I wish, on days that I feel like I can solve all my problems before nightfall, that I could remember days like yesterday.  They are happier and I think, more productive in the end.