185 More Days To Go

Remember when I was whining and moaning about summer ending? Well, let me just give you a TASTE of what the past two days have had to offer and I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Yesterday started out well. Better than Sunday night when I had a post-Benadryl (don't judge me - I dose them the night before the first day of school because if I didn't - they'd be up all night) - I-don't-want-to-go-to-first-grade MELT DOWN on my hands. Whew. I am lucky I survived that. So, Monday morning was nothing in comparison..........................until we got to school.

And I will resist the temptation to seriously veer off course here and tell you how much I detest driving my kids to school on the first day (what kind of a mother is she???????) because there are 8000 cars in the teeny tiny parking lot and you have to park 20 miles away and walk with four kids to the school and you think to yourself the whole time, "I should have just WALKED TO SCHOOL."

The 23 month old (I had to re-write that SIX times because I kept misjudging her age) thought she was going to first grade with the first grader. This resulted in a hand clinging, screaming (baby), tears in eyes (first grader), scene that could have been taken straight from one of those terrible Hallmark movies about orphan kids who end up being separated. Jeez. I am pretty sure I had some other moms wishing they could have been in my shoes....................NOT!

I got an amazing amount of things (and notice how I say "things" because it is now Tuesday night and I cannot, frankly, remember a damn thing I did yesterday) done during the day Monday without kids. Then 3:15 rolled around. When I saw the bus (bus 621) I was shocked to learn that I had recorded the wrong bus number (429)on all the kids' forms "HOW WILL YOUR CHILD GET HOME ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?????????" Well, thank GAWD for informed teachers, a bus driver who has known my kids longer than I am sure he would like to, and kids who know their address. But, needless to say they all got off the bus grumping, "MOM, you put the WRONG BUS NUMBER ON OUR FORMS." So, there went my, "Hey, dolls. I missed you so much today. I am SOOOOOOOO happy you are home and have been waiting in this chair for you to arrive!!!!!!"

So, fast forward to around 5:00 and we are still listening to classic rock, a compressor, baby screaming, three kids trying to do their homework, practice piano, and eat their snacks. Why did this all take until past 6:00? I don't KNOW!!! All I can offer in explanation is, simply - I AM THREE MONTHS OUT OF PRACTICE. So, we ate one hour later than I had planned, and by 6:30 I was GRUMPY and yelling. I will not describe the chaos that ensued, but I will say, "The idea of First Day of School Family Love was put to bed."

I resolved Tuesday (today) to make it a better, more organized day. 2:45 rolled around and I had: dinner started, two prints completed during the day, laundry organized, all the "stuff" (I want to use stronger language here, but there may be children reading) from my closet put somewhere so that the carpet could be ripped out, a mild organization to the chaos that has become my home, the YUKON WASHED (hallelujah and amen because that thing was DIRTY), banana bread baked, and I felt mentally ready to tackle the challenges of homework (and I was fully prepared to skip piano - if not throw the piano out the window). Nothing could ruin my day. Wait, what was that??? RAIN??? It hasn't rained in, oh, about 20 years in San Antonio. But, yes it managed to rain twice on my house between 2:45 and 3:15. It was just enough to dirty my Yukon which hasn't been clean since the 80's. But, I tried not to let it get me down.

So, the kids get off the bus and immediately upon entering our home (and I use that term loosely since there is now a full-time compressor in the 'dining room') my oldest girl child bursts into tears saying her ear hurts.

SAY WHAT???

This couldn't be happening. So, my senses kick into high gear and I call the doctor's office and am speeding down the road to the doc's in a matter of 15 minutes. Snacks? Who needs snacks when dinner is practically cooked? Homework? Do it in the car. Piano? Skip it. The workers? I told them to lock up and call me if they needed me.

We make it to the doctor's. One of the workers calls me just to make sure I have a key to my own house because they are leaving and should he lock up. He is so young he could probably be my son, and oddly it feels a little like that. I tell him - yes for God's sake lock up and GO HOME. Girl child is diagnosed with a middle and outer ear infection and the nurse tells me she has a fever of 101 and looks at me kind of disdainfully. Husband calls and says he is in the parking lot, so send out the other two children - he graciously tells me to 'keep baby' who is now screaming at the top of her lungs 'WANT TO GO HOME, MAMA' over and over because she thinks we didn't hear her the first 1000 times. The atmosphere at this point is positively joyful.

The sickie, baby, and I make it home and I frantically put dinner on the table (there is a God because remember up in about paragraph 2 I told you I had started dinner?). I then speed to the pharmacy to pick up meds. Of course, we are out of fever reducing medicine. Murphy's Law #108 for Parents - YOU WILL ONLY BE OUT OF FEVER REDUCING MEDICINE WHEN ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN ACTUALLY HAS A FEVER. So, I plan to pick that up as well.

Well, luck is on my side. Just kidding. It starts to POUR DOWN RAIN on my way to the pharmacy. Like it is something out of a hurricane chasers made-for-TV movie. I actually see a political sign BLOW across the road. I begin to question, how high is 101 because baby girl ain't gettin' no motrin. I am not getting out of the now FILTHY Yukon. I am going through the drive through. Sorry, baby girl.

I dropped off the medicine with my husband and screamed up the stairs that it was on the table. I quickly tried to make sense of the aftermath of dinner, put homework into backpacks (this was hard since I am still not exactly sure whose is whose), ignore the dust and grime that has pleasantly settled ALL OVER EVERYTHING and THEN I was off to Second Grade Parent Orientation.

I learned about being the parent of a second grader, but I found it hard to concentrate thinking of my baby sitting all day (in the desk I was now sitting in) with a fever of 101 and severe ear pain. I told her teacher after I was oriented that she would not be at school tomorrow. He apologized for not knowing and wished her a speedy recovery.

I got home just in time to get the last kisses of the night and find out from Husband that the fever went down to 99.8.

As I said when we started, I will leave you to your own conclusions. I will be with two children tomorrow. One sickie, one not. Not where I thought I would be the Wednesday of the first week of school, but it's just what happened. Because you know the old saying, "'Stuff' happens!" (Edited to keep my 'G' rating.) Happy hump day, my friends!