Thank Goodness It’s Friday

Before a long 3 day weekend.

It was a long Thursday.

Joe headed off to work. The boys went off to school on the bus. The girls sat down with their dry bowls of cereal and cups to watch PBS Kids.

I downed my second cup of coffee of the morning, tamed my wild curls into a messy pony, and put on the latest episode of my favorite podcast, Astonishing Legends.

Then I got down to work! Ok, so I really started about 10, after getting the girls to sit on the potty several times, switched the laundry around, cleaned up the dry cereal, let Lucy outside, and fed the chickens and ducks. There was also a 3rd cup of microwaved coffee in there somewhere.

I spend the majority of yesterday cleaning and organizing the boys’ bedroom. I also moved the cubbies around to give them more room. There were 25 pounds of Lego Bricks to sort not including the built things that they had set aside. That might not sound like a lot at first, but when you start to think about all the little tiny pieces, ugh. For some reason one of the kids likes to pull the hands out and arms off. So that added to the sorting.

They have more cars and trucks than a junkyard, miles of tracks, air planes that would fill an airshow, trains to fill the whole Island of Sodor, and enough dinosaurs to make John Hammond jealous.

By the time I was done cleaning, sorting, and organizing I had a home for everything, and filled 5 trash bags of broken toys, crayons and markers, holey socks, and empty water bottles. Joe collects empty water bottles around our bed too. I shut the vacuum off at 6:30. Yes, it really did take me that long, between playing and chasing the girls around (and away from the piles of stuff), potty times for them, lunch, homework when the boys got home.

Joe got home and kept an eye on the kids while they played outside for a bit. While out there, he also sharpened my pocket knife. He brought the girls in to start dinner and told the boys not to touch the knife. One guess at which one of the three didn’t listen.

Tony came into the house screaming he needed a band-aid. This isn’t an unusual occurrence in our house. The boys scrape their knees, hands, and arms from bike crashes, trips (they’re graceful like their mother), and tumbles. The girls, while they occasionally get a scrape, they usually just want to be covered in band-aids from head to toe.

I was wrapping up the cord and told him to go into the bathroom to wash it off, not thinking he did anything that bad. Although, I should have known better because Tony is our frequent flier to the ER. (Not really, but this was his 4th trip in 6 years- the other 2 boys have only ever been to Urgent Care, and that was mainly because we couldn’t get them into the pediatrician’s for other illnesses) A few minutes later when he hadn’t come out of the bathroom, I went to check. And GAH!!! A lovely clean arch cut on the side of his left pinky, right at the top joint.

He didn’t just run water on it. Oh no! He was shaking his hand. There was blood everywhere: the sink, the floor, the walls, on him. I got the cut cleaned up put on a dressing and we applied pressure. I got most of the blood off the floor and sink and him. The bleeding had  mostly stopped.  He joined the rest of the kids eating dinner, and then off to the ER we went because doctor mom didn’t think she could fix it with just a band-aid.

So after a sterile washing, medical glue, and finger splint to keep him from breaking it open bending it, 3 kind nurses, including Tony who cleaned up Tony’s chin before, and a very sweet doctor we were out of there in 2 hours. Tony had a little snack when we got home and then off to bed. Even with tape holding the splint in place, he still managed to get it off in his sleep. (He cried more after we scolded him for messing with the knife than he did while they cleaned and patched him up. Lego Movie saved the day)

Glad their room was clean so I could easily find it this morning.

 

 

Now, I’m off to sort through the girls’ toys. Shouldn’t take nearly as long, but figuring out what’s baby-baby toys, toddler toys, and getting over sentimental value is tough. Oh and not to mention, they’ll be helping me….

Wish me luck.

 

 

 

 

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It’s the Second Full Week of School!

And what a week the first full week was! This is just a brief, toss out the boring laundry, diaper changing, and cooking things glimpse at what a week looks like in our house.

Our district started school on August 15th, a Wednesday, which makes sense. Three days to get in the swing of things and then the weekend to relax.

That Friday, Miss Ginny had a doctor’s appointment at 10 for her 3 year check-up! We waited an abnormally long time, which I found out a bit later, all the doctors were in the office and they were using 2 rooms a piece rather than the normal 4. It was kinda crazy. The girls were restless and attempted to run amok in the waiting area. But eventually, we got back and seen. Miss Ginny is a healthy three-nager. 85th percentile for weight and 86th for height.

We got home afterwards, had lunch, and then watched Poppy (Tolls movie) for the umpteenth time. I put the girls down for their naps shortly before the boys got home. I checked their bags made sure they had their snacks, and they went to kick back and relax. I passed out. I woke up to Joe waking me, at 5:30! I didn’t feel good and my throat was sore, check it in the mirror and sure enough, I had come down with strep. Ick. Took the boys with me to Urgent Care. We were the only ones there! It was glorious! In and out, prescription in hand. And then off we went to a suit place to get the boys fitted for their tuxes for their aunt’s wedding (Joe’s youngest sister).

Saturday, I went to the her wedding shower, which was held in the new BBQ joint in our town. It was beautiful. The food was great. It was fun.

Sunday, we went to Mass and breakfast. Afterwards, Joe went and picked up my buffet that I had got at the church’s rummage sale. Then he went to clean the garage, and I cleaned the house while the kids were in and out all day.

Monday morning, the first Monday of school, Tony woke up all froggy and complaining his throat hurt.. Oh boy. He stayed home. Tried to call the pediatrician’s office, and something was wrong with all the systems phone lines. I tried 18 times, and it never went through. So off we went, back to urgent care. This time there were 2 other people there, but the wait was on 15 minutes. The intake nurse was the same who registered me on Friday and so was the one in the office. Both asked if I was feeling better, which was nice, and I was. So Tony rapid strep test was negative, but since he was symptomatic and I had it, the doctor thought it was best to treat it with amoxicillin.  We got home, he camped out on the couch, and the girls bounced around like normal. Lunch, naps, other brothers home. Did homework and then dinner after Joe got home from work.

Tuesday morning, was pretty smooth. Boys up and dressed, eating breakfast at school, heading out the door shortly after Joe leaves. I finished my coffee, got the girls dressed to go grocery shopping, and then my phone rang. It was shortly before 9 am. Joey threw up in gym class. All I could thing was he somehow managed to get a concussion, but that wasn’t the case. He told the teacher he felt sick, and then booked it to the restroom. Poor kiddo. So we went to pick him up. He crawled into his bed and slept from 9:30 until nearly 6:30. And then right after chicken noodle soup, he crashed back out. Meanwhile, the other 2 boys did their homework and went to play.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, was finally normal. Actually got some stuff done, like catching up with what need done. And we started to potty train Ginny AND Clara. Monkey see, monkey do, especially with those 2. It’s been going pretty well.

Saturday we bummed around while doing housework again.

Sunday, the girls and I went to 8 am Mass, headed to see what was going on at the confirmation retreat, came home, took the boys back to 11 am Mass and then we all ate together at the “picnic”. Hung around, cleaned up, and then headed to Joe’s parents. Then home for dinner and bedtime.

Monday, again, all was good until the boys got off the bus. Tony had broken out in this icky looking rash, which turned out to be a reaction to the amoxicillin. Lovely. But after some Benadryl he was fine.

Tuesday, Tony turned 6! And it was picture day at school.

Today is Wednesday, and I’m fairly sure Huggies won’t be making the diapers that we use with the girls any more, which pretty much bums me out. Just needed to get through Clara. So maybe it’s good she’s potty training with Ginny.

So that’s a little over a week in our lives. It’s been crazy and hectic, but there is joy in the chaos.

 

End of Summer Break Mom Guilt

School starts on Wednesday!

And the Mom Guilt that’s been building the past week or two I’ve been hiding (not all that well, but trying) has really taken a hold this morning. The end of Summer Break is here.

Some of these thoughts that have run through my head this morning are:

• The boys don’t have new outfits to wear. New shoes yes, clothes no.
• Did we read enough? No. I should have read to them/forced them to read more.
• Why didn’t I make them keep a journal? They should have filled 3 notebooks each. They need to practice writing along with reading.
• We should have done more educational things. Gone to museums. Learned Italian.
• Why didn’t we keep them on a schedule?
• We should have sorted all the unplayed and broken toys out along with too small of clothes. (Tried and failed that one horribly)
• They’ll look back on their childhood summers and hate us.

It’s insane. I know. But so many of us have these thoughts.

I instead chose to let them be kids. Stay up late-ish. Sleep in. Watch cartoons. Play in the pool. Eat junk food. Play video games. Go to the park. Have wars with Nerf guns and sticks. They got bumps and bruises from climbing and riding (and crashing) their bikes. They’re tan and their hair lightened a bit. Their rooms are messy. And the amount of popsicles they ate would hydrate Death Valley. But they are smiling and healthy. (Unless I said no to something.)

And that’s ok. That’s enough.

For all the chaos summer is with 5 kids at home, personalities clashing (nobody headbutts like me and Joey except maybe Joey and Joe), the whining of “I’m bored,” being out of food ALL. THE. TIME.

I’m going to miss my boys. Their sisters are going to miss them too. They did yesterday when Dad took the boys fishing.

The house will be a little cleaner, a little quieter, a little less rambunctious. Well, not that clean, quiet, or calm. These girls will keep me just as busy with their busy little selves.

Instead of wallowing in my mom guilt, I’m going to look back at our summer with a smile.