#iPPP After School

School ends for Mayzie at 11am.  We promptly eat lunch and then she lays down for a nap.  Sometimes I take a nap too, but more often than not I'm working on something dissertation or postdoc related.  By the time Mayzie wakes up, it is almost time for Annika's bus to drop her off.  There are about 15 minutes of every week day when Mayzie wants to stand outside and watch for her sister's bus to come around the corner.  It is the most adorable thing ever to see her face light up when she sees that bus.
Here she is waiting for the bus to arrive:
Annika always comes home completely famished and wanting to eat everything in the kitchen as quickly as possible.  Some days, she gets lucky.  Some days we make something special and sweet for both the girls to eat after school.  This day it was brownies:
After school time is so special to me.  It is the time that I get to help with homework and hear about their days.  It is the time that we get to cuddle on the couch because they are exhausted from all that learning and playing and doing.  It is the time when I remember just how lucky I am to be able to be here for them to come home after school.  My parents weren't that lucky.  My flexible schedule of working whenever I can makes me available to them in a way that I couldn't be if I had an 8-5 job.  I love that about being a grad school mommy, and I want to appreciate it while I can.  I know this after school gig won't always be great and I might not always be able to be here for them at this time.  But for now, just now, I'm reveling in the happy smiles that come my way as Annika bounds off the school bus and gives me and Mayzie big bear hugs. 
Hooking up with Greta and Sarah for their weekly #iPPP.