Come on, it’s Halloween…any day you can dress up your kiddos and get free candy is a good day. Yeah, it was crazy and hectic at times. But, we went to the Solars for a kid friendly party and trick or treating. Josh ate dinner! This is a big deal. My fav moments were when Eli, in his very shy voice, going up to the door and saying trick or treat for candy, and Josh plowing his friends down to be first at the door. My perfect little guys! It was a good day.
When you write out a description of my job, in the top five would be diaper changing.
I was changing baby Sam for the millionth time, it is the end of the day, yep, when mama is EXHAUSTED! When, hubby comes from behind and gives me a big hug. Sometimes the hubby can know what to do without me asking, and fix it.
Simple and sweet. Now it’s my turn to return the favor.You guessed it….what? Another crazy morning and I didn’t get breakfast. I am already seeing a reoccurring theme here. So no breakfast and it is Ooey Gooey day at preschool. Families are invited, and I totally have to go and play with Josh at school. I have to admit I knew it would be crazy going to a school activity at school with Eli and baby Sam too, but why be sane?
I spent all morning playing with pumpkins, bowling for ghosts, reading stories, and drinking apple juice while nursing a baby and tending to, yet again, a cranky Eli who didn’t eat breakfast either. It was fun to see my sweet Josh be so independent, though. And, as a proud mommy would say, I thought he behaved really well.
But, at the end of the activities, Josh got a special box with Halloween goodies inside. You can imagine the jealousy of Eli. He was beside himself to not get a box. Why didn’t everyone get one you ask? Me too? Seemed a little unfair, but what can you do? Josh wasn’t too keen on the idea of sharing his special box either. He was eyeballing that thing in his to go home box the whole last hour of school. So, I don’t blame him.
I try everything to bribe Eli. Yes, I will go to the store and get Eli a special box. It’s only fair, he was good at school today, too. Didn’t exactly work. What am I going to do? And money to get a box? Well, it was a dilemma…
Here comes the good moment, I promise…
Not trying to dwell on bad, but for this story, you kind of need a little background to get the aaaahhhhh moment….I think.Mee-maw sent a Halloween treat in the mail. Thank you mee-maw. She saves the day! I do have to mention here, it is two o’clock in the afternoon, and I still haven’t eaten.
In the mail, she sent scary guys (this is what Josh calls skeletons) she made for the boys. For the moment, Josh is elated, Eli content, and Sam well…he sleeps a lot. But, what was good about my day today was that there was $5 in a card for me. Yes, she said to get a bag of candy for me to not be left out on Halloween. But, I got my first dollar double stacker from McDonalds (and yeah, kinda addicted to them now) and a dollar fry for me and Josh. Eli finally falls asleep.
There is my moment of the day. A double stacker from McDonalds unexpectedly with some super sweet scary guys that are fun to dance around with, and swing with, or sleep with. Thanks mee-maw!
Here I go again. Another cra-azy day. I woke up late. We are literally the last car to drop off at school. Whoo! Then, I frantically take my other toddler and two month old baby to the doctor for the first round of immunization shots. I DO NOT LIKE DOING THIS! My sweet Eli, the toddler, did not eat breakfast. You can do the math, Eli + no breakfast = cranky Eli. My husband said we had “slightly” expired baby tylenol, yeah, um Dave, it’s almost a year expired! The nurse said, “Yeah, better toss that out.” No funds, and I need tylenol to feel like I am doing something to make my baby feel ok with these horrible shots I have forced on him. Amongst all this, I forgot to ask Dave the day before how to pay for this doctors visit, and it only takes four phone calls to figure this out. Ugh!
So, without any money, I need to feed my Eli and find baby tylenol (the nurse tried to get me some samples, but of course, they were out). Feeding myself sounded like a good idea too, before having to pick up Josh from school at noon. It is 10:45. “Really? Only 10:45? Not knowing how everything was going to fall into place is not easy for me to handle especially on an empty stomach. After counting my cents, I am in the parking lot of Target crying, yes crying and breathing, trying to pull myself together. Ok, I tell myself, “deep breath grab some strength and patience and your kiddos and go into the store. You can do this.” While I am having this dialogue with myself, I notice a larger woman getting into her car in front of me looking at me. I think, so what, I am crying quit staring.
And wouldn’t you know. That lady approached me. She was a bigger lady, and as she said, “I’m sorry to bother you, but are you ok?” I noticed a New York accent. I smiled and said, as most do, “yes, just a bad day.” She then proceeded, “I am a grandma, and I am going to give you a hug.” I did not hesitate. I needed this hug. She took both arms and wrapped them around me and gave a good old squeeze.
Then we talked a bit. She told me how her daughter had suffered some depression when she had a baby. I told her a bit of what was going on with me for that day, and she finished by saying I should prop my feet up when I get home and drink some wine. I chuckled, yeah….don’t drink. She started to walk away, but turned around and said, “AND PRAY.” This I had been doing all morning long with every little step I was taking. Praying for Josh to have a good day at school, for Sam to be brave with his shots, for Eli to stop being cranky, for me to have endurance, for money to magically appear for medicine and a hot dog, and for just some good ol’ fashioned peace. But….a little reminder doesn’t hurt.
Now you may ask how I knew she was Catholic??? She then said, “and if that doesn’t work, do your rosary.” There it was….my dear big Catholic angel. I don’t know her name, but I know who sent her. And I didn’t cry for the rest of the day, instead, I kind of chuckled.
So, today is very hectic, well….that is how I see it. To my boys, it’s always a busy day. What I have noticed is even at their busiest moments they can stop at the drop of a hat and completely enjoy something sweet and beautiful like fall. I am crazily putting my boys into the car, all three of them, to get Josh to school on time (no small feat ever for me). As I am herding them to stop playing around, or being busy, I look over at Josh, and he is standing under our cherry willow tree watching the leaves fall down on him with the sweetest smile. This was my tender moment for the day. I even took a moment to watch and talk about the leaves with him, and surprisingly we still made it to school just in the nick of time. Thanks sweet boo, for helping mommy enjoy something so simply sweet. I did try to capture the moment later with my camera, not exactly the same, but still fun.
