After all the sickness in the house last week, I was glad to get back to work on Monday. We had inservice and I sat in meetings all day looking at school related data in order to analyze our strengths and weaknesses in different departments and decide where we can go from here...my excitement didn't last long. Since it was an inservice day though, that meant the kids didn't have school and had to go to daycare with Joey. Both Jake and Michaela have been to daycare before and should have known what to expect, but they hadn't been to this one so they were speculating and actually got a little nervous about going. At one point Michaela was whining about being in a room with babies and there would be only baby toys and little kids and there would be nothing for her to do all day. I had to reassure her that there would, in fact, be big kids there and activities for them to play. It turned out fine and they both had a great time. Michaela even made some new friends!
This was the third Monday of the month and this was one of the weeks that the Brownie troop was supposed to meet. I had forgotten about two meetings already so I made a special point to remember this one so Michaela could get back into Girl Scouts, I had even set an alarm on my phone. So instead of going straight home, we stopped at the church where they meet. It was 5:45 and they were supposed to meet at 6:00 so we waited. It doesn't sound too bad at first but I didn't mention that it was raining like Noah had just finished the last nails and it was like 40 degrees out. After I parked the truck, we sat inside for a few minutes but it was already starting to fog over and get cold so I thought we should try to go inside the gym of the church to wait. I had my umbrella in the front seat and I got it out and open before I opened the baby's door. Jake and Michaela got out the other side and ran off in the opposite direction of the gym. I had to hold the umbrella in the crook of my elbow because I had to use both hands to get the baby carrier out and the wind was blowing, I almost lost the umbrella completely. I yelled at the big kids to come back this way and we went up to the church just to find the doors locked. So we headed back to the truck. I had to fight with the umbrella again to get the carrier back inside and when I closed it, all the water ran off the top and right on my head. I remembered why I don't usually use umbrellas. I think I got more wet than if I had just walked quickly without the umbrella. We waited in the car until about 6:05. I didn't have the leader's phone number and Michaela was a little worried about staying in the storm anyway so we went home. I guess Brownie's was not meant to be this year. We certainly aren't having any luck getting started.
When we finally got home, I noticed Joey seemed warm so I took his temperture and he was sick. I had meetings with the principal and Superintendent of Secondary Education Tuesday morning and couldn't stay home so Ed did, even though he had to go to work in the afternoon. I rushed to get ready and get to work Tuesday so I could take care of some paperwork before the meetings and called the pediatrician's office as soon as they opened to get Joey in to see the doctor before Ed had to go to work. They don't open until 8:00 so I called about 8:05 and the only thing they had before 1:00pm was in 10 minutes. So I called Ed and had him rush Joey to the office. Poor baby had two ear infections! They gave him some antibiotics and wanted to see him again in two weeks. I left school as soon as I could to pick up the baby from Ed's work then I had to go to my doctor's appointment. At the doctor's office, everybody loved seeing the baby, they all thought he was just adorable. The nurse even held him and fed him a bottle while I went to use the restroom. I discovered in the bathroom that with the morning's craziness, I had accidentally put my underwear on inside out! (And no, I wasn't trying to get two days out of them.) I will have to pay better attention to avoid future, possibly more embarrassing, wardrobe difficulties. So after I saw the doctor, Joey and I picked up the big kids and went home.
Jake was super excited when I picked him up because he got a green at school that day. I was so happy for him but you have to realize that "greens" are few and far between for Jake and usually there is some kind of anomoly when he gets one so I asked him if his teacher had been there or if there was a substitute. I shouldn't have asked, there was a sub. But I was still excited for him and we congratulated him and told him how proud we were. We have been using video games to "motivate" him to behave at school lately and it has helped a little. For each green, he earns one mission on his games over the weekend. We don't let him play during the week though, there isn't time between getting home at 6:00 and eating supper, doing homework, taking baths. We don't need any more distractions. Baby Joe was feeling better Tuesday night and Wednesday, everybody went back to school and work as normal. I picked up the kids after school Wednesday and, wonder of wonders, Jake got a green again, and his regular classroom teacher was there! No twirling, no undressing and redressing, no shouting out in class, she even drew a smiley face on the chart for Wednesday next to the green mark! It was like winning the lottery, or it felt like the same odds anyway. So I fixed Jake's choice for dinner that night. We have been trying to teach the kids to eat at least a little of whatever is fixed for them whether they like it or not for a couple of reasons. First if I go to the trouble of making something, they should eat it and I shouldn't have to make multiple meals every night for every family member. Second if they are eating at someone else's house (I know, not likely these little monsters will get invited to eat with other people, but just in case...) it is rude not to eat what is served. Anyway, in light of her "training" Michaela made a little speech at the table. "Mommy, thank you for making dinner for us. Daddy told me I have to eat some of it and I will eat a little bit, but I don't like this and I'm going to make myself a sandwich afterwards." It's a step in the right direction but we have a little ways to go in the execution. What really made me mad was that she hadn't even tasted it yet. When I pointed that out to her she got mad and went crazy, she screamed that we never think she does anything right and stomped off to her room where she slammed the door. That's the Michaela we know and love. She finally did come out a little later and ate. Turned out she liked it after all and asked for more.
Thursday Jake got a third green in a row! I started to worry about the delicate climate balance in Hell. We were all so proud of him and he had earned three missions on the video games for the week. He wanted to play one that night but I wouldn't let him, no games during the week. He only fussed a little about doing his homework and he got it done quickly, both pages! He really had a great week and I am so excited for him, he is really making progress. We don't usually go anywhere in the evenings so as soon as we get home, Ed and I both change into comfy clothes like a tshirt and pajama pants. Super elegant. We ordered pizza for supper since Jake had been asking for it all week and we watched TV waiting for it to get here. Michaela, however, didn't like what we were watching so she took her Kindle to her room to watch by herself. By the time the pizza got here, she was asleep so the rest of us ate and left hers in the box. We had ordered the pizza sliders from Pizza Hut and she had three sausage sliders waiting on the table for her to come and eat if she woke up (we learned a long time ago not to wake her, it's better to just let her miss supper)...until Petey, our cat, noticed the smell of food. He knocked the box off the table and all three fell on the floor so he helped himself. "You snooze, you lose" seems to be particularly appropriate here. So Ed got up to clean up the floor and when he came back and went to sit down, I noticed the back seam of his pajama pants was completely ripped out. Forget the barn door being open, the whole back wall had fallen down!! "Honey, you have a huge hole in the butt of those pants." "These are my favorite pants!" They must have split when he bent down or the last time he wore them. He was so sad. He has another pair just like them but I guess I'll have to get him some more. Maybe a size bigger.
After Eddie changed pants we watched a little TV then I went to bed a little early. Joey hadn't gotten his medicine yet so I asked Ed to give it to him before putting him down for the night. Ed needs to go to the eye doctor but refuses, so he can't read the instructions on the medicine bottles and he had to ask me how much Joey needed. (This is just one of the many reasons I tell people I have FOUR kids...) I told him 1/2 a teaspoon. He said, "ok, a tablespoon", and I said, "no, a TEAspoon." Well, in the process of correcting his joke, he misinterpreted or misheard, or somehow missed what I said. He gave Joey a full teaspoon of antibiotic. Thank God it wasn't Tylenol or ibuprofen. He gave Joey two double doses before I noticed Saturday morning. I was holding the baby and asked Ed to get his medicine. He brought me the dropper and I said "you realize this is way over 1/2 a teaspoon don't you?" Ed: "What do you mean HALF a teaspoon, you told me it was a whole teaspoon!" Me: "No I told you 1/2." Ed: "You said a teaspoon." Me: "I did NOT say 'a teaspoon'. Why would I say a teaspoon when I know it's a 1/2 teaspoon. You are just mad that you can't read and are trying to blame this on me!" Jackass. It wasn't even a whole teaspoon in the dropper. Looking back, I bet he thought I was saying ONE teaspoon when I had to correct him saying a tablespoon. Either way, it's his own fault. If he'd just get his eyes checked he wouldn't have to ask me in the first place.
Friday morning, the kids got up extra early and got dressed right away because they wanted Ed to take them to McDonald's for breakfast before they went to school. Jake had been so good this week and they were so sweet that morning, ready to go by 6:30!, so Ed agreed and got up to take them to breakfast. They left for school and I was finishing packing up the baby when my phone rang. It was Ed and I couldn't imagine what he wanted, I was afraid something was wrong. When I answered, Ed asked if I had left yet. I said no and he asked if I would bring Jake a shirt. "What do you mean bring Jake a shirt? What kind of shirt?" The kids have to wear specific uniforms to school but on Fridays they can wear jeans with their Baker tshirts. I thought maybe Jake had worn a regular shirt, or maybe Ed was confused and thought he needed a polo instead of his Baker tee. No, it wasn't any of that. Jake had been so excited to get dressed and eat breakfast at McDonald's he hadn't changed his shirt at all. He was still wearing his batman pajama top! Fortunately, I had planned to run through McDonald's for breakfast anyway (I love their oatmeal! One of the ladies I work with calls it "crack" oatmeal. It's REALLY good!) so I brought the kid one of his uniform shirts and met Ed in the parking lot. Jake and Michaela were in the booth at the window banging and waving at me. They left dirty handprints all over the window but I decided to look on the bright side, at least it wasn't cheek, face, or tongue prints. This time. I got my food in the drive thru and went to work to eat.
That night, Joey had another episode of his exploding poo. I chalk this one up to the overdose of antibiotics... I went to change his jammies and he was almost out of clean sleepers. Michaela brought me the last clean one in the drawer, such a good helper, and I changed the baby. Now, he had worn these jammies just last week and they were just fine but Friday night when I put them on him, they were so short, he couldn't even straighten his legs! I knew he was hitting a growth spurt, he had been eating more formula more often all week but I had no idea he was growing so fast! So I put him in a onsie and a blanket sleeper, the kind that is like a sack, so he would be warm and decided I would have to buy him some bigger jammies at the store over the weekend. I found three new pairs of pajamas for Joey at Walmart Saturday morning. Unfortunately, there weren't any of Ed's jammie pants. I got them at Kohl's originally so I'll have to check there later.
Crazy enough, Michaela is the only one in the family that didn't have clothing issues this week, she used to be the one that had them all the time. I remember when she was in first grade, we had to start checking her backpack every morning before she went to school because we found out she was going to the bathroom after she got to school and changing clothes. She had a sundress that she had outgrown and she liked to take it and wear it as a skirt with a shirt over it. One day, she convinced Ed to let her wear a button down cardigan with no shirt underneath. It looked terrible and I had to explain to Ed that if he felt it was "not quite right" he shouldn't let a six-year-old talk him into it. I'm thankful now for the uniform policy at their new gradeschool. It alleviates some of these problems! We obviously can't escape all of the trials of modern fashion but with better attention and planning, maybe we can at least prevent future clothing "accidents" in the busy-ness of day to day life!
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