yesterday i had a list a mile long running around inside my head. in the meantime, my little guy was begging me to stop to play some candyland with him. i told him "after i make a business call, send out a couple of emails, put some laundry in and fold the stuff in the dryer." he was patient. he got out a coloring book and waited. while i'm in the middle of doing the things i told him i needed to do, the phone rang twice for my business, culminating in about 30 minutes of conversation. still, my little guy waited. i kept getting sidetracked, but finally decided, out of guilt, to stop and play.

so i did. but my head was still going. i was thinking of all the things i needed to do while my little yellow gingerbread man was racing around the game board. finally, my 3-year-old puts his man down and says, "mommy, are you sad?"

i said, "no buddy, i'm not sad at all!"

he said, "then why does your face look like that?"

i know what he meant. i've seen the face a million times on other adults, completely distracted while their kids are trying in vain to get their attention. i thought the act of playing candyland would satisfy my little guy, but he saw right through me. he knew i wasn't REALLY there. i was just going through the motions, and he busted me.

why is it so hard to focus on the things most important to us, and get caught up in all the little stupid stuff that doesn't even matter? i'd like to answer that question, but i just heard a little voice yell, "mom...where are you? can you hear me?"

yes, i can. loud and clear.