I was grumpy and tired
as I walked through the kitchen
with an armful of dirty laundry.
It had been a long day.

I stumbled over a toy cash register
that was beneath my clumsy feet on the kitchen floor.
My toes collided with the misplaced toy
as I caught my balance.

It did me in.
I dropped the dirty clothes onto the ground,
ran to the hallway, and cursed as I spilled
myself onto the carpet.

Then I laid there in the hallway
and cried for ten minutes.

My second to last baby toe was bleeding.

{The stupid culprit}

Roger took pity on me and dressed my small wound.
Then, he lovingly left me laying in the hallway to mope.
It felt good just to lay there on my back and cry.

He even offered to take a picture of me
looking pitiful on the floor for a blog post
but I decided not to document that moment with a photo.

My mom called just as I was peeling my
sad bones off  the carpet.
I told her all about my bad day
and my stupid next to last baby toe getting stubbed
on that stupid dumb cash register.

"You need some TLC." was her response.

So, she offered to take Koen the next morning

and treated me to a much needed pedicure.
She was totally right, I take care of everyone else
but I rarely take care of myself.

It felt so nice to get pampered for a change.

I sat in the spa chair and read People Magazine.
The massage chair rolled across my tired back
and I thought about how much I neglect myself.

Long ago, when I was a teenager
and feeling a bit down,
I would take extra special care of myself.
I remember how I used to wake up early before school to take a hot bath
or to sit and read a book with a mud mask on my face.
It always made me feel better.

This mama needs to be kinder to her body.

In the end, the pedicure was just what my soul needed.

My stupid dumb second to last big toe
felt fancy and pampered.

I made a promise to myself to
shut the bathroom door tight
and ignore the little boys
that throw themselves against the door.

It's time for me to start taking care of me too.