stand.in.grandparents.

I had to go back to my endocrinologist for the third time in 11 days this morning. Everything's fine- they were just checking things out to get a better overall idea of what's going on. They asked me to come in at 11am, which seemed fine until I realized that the girls didn't have school today. They go to private school, so don't have the regular february and april vacations, but two weeks in march. For some reason, they also had today off. The oldest was going to a friend's house for the day, and I briefly considered taking *l* and *e* with me and having them sit in the waiting area for the 20 minutes I'd be getting scanned. I know the secretary really well by now, and since my doctor mainly does research, and therefore only sees patients two times per month (unless there's a special case), I knew there would be no one in the waiting area for them to bother. *l* (who's almost seven) would have been fine, but then I started thinking of all the mischief *e* (who's five) could get into. (She's notorious for it- here's a good example of her shenanigans.) So I decided to save that as a last resort, and checked in with my mom to see if she would be willing to hang out with the two of them. (She's a fifth grade teacher in acton, and they have this week off.) As usual, she was more than happy to help out (thanks mom!), and planned some activities to do with the girls, and my aunt *n* who would be tagging along. Apparently, when *a* told the girls that my mom was going to watch them this morning, they cheered. All went well. I went to my appt, got some blood tests (which would not have worked if I had the girls since I certainly wouldn't leave them alone in that crowded waiting room, nor could I bring them into the small blood draw rooms at mgh) and got home almost three hours later. They were all having a great time. They had a tea party (where they got to drink real tea with their own teabag and use a teacup, saucer and spoon), read some stories from one of my favorite childhood books (that was my mom's when she was a kid), played sorry, and made happyface sandwiches (openface sandwiches with fruit and veggies for faces- another one of my childhood favorites!). *e* asked me to "please go away again" so my mom and aunt could stay. I tell you, it's great to be loved!