stupid winter

I hate stupid winter. It's so stupid. I am sick of snow, biting wind, runny noses, chapped lips, crusty patches of eczema, cold feet, sweltering hot upstairs because the thermostat is cranked up to heat my cold and drafty downstairs (energy efficient my eye). I'm sick of an icy driveway, puddles in the garage that never evaporate, a flabby, post-baby body. I can't ride my bike or take walks because it's either bitter cold or the air quality is horrible from the inversion. I have had "Boat Drinks" by Jimmy Buffett stuck in my head for weeks now. I do have cabin fever, and I gotta go where it's warm! But the thought of driving 12 hours with 3 kids, one of which needs to nurse every 3 hours, doesn't sound very appealing either. What am I going to do? I need to win a trip. Hmmm, how could I do that?

what a day

Whiner alert! If you don't want to hear it, skip this post.

Today was totally frustrating. Everything I tried to do got thwarted. Our first stop was Harmons for gas. The pump I chose must have been almost out of gas, because it pumped so slow! It took forever just to get $10 worth, at which point I didn't want to stand out in the cold anymore, so I ended it there. Next we headed to Costco. There were NO available parking spaces, which meant it would be packed inside, and with 4 kids in tow, there was no way I was going to deal with that. Plus, I couldn't even park! At least at REI all I would have to do was return a hat. That would be easy and quick, especially because the kids just wanted to stay in the car. So I ran in, and the line at the registers was farther back than I could even see. I couldn't stand in that line while the kids were in the car, that would take way too long, so I had to scratch that errand too. Arrgggg! By this time we were all really hungry, so we pulled in to Carls Jr. They had a play land there, so I thought I would give the kids some time to stretch their legs and play. I parked, and this idiot in a big truck pulled in so close to me that I could barely get Penny's car seat out. I get all the kids in, and go up to place my order, "I need an order of chicken stars please" "I'm sorry, we're out of chicken stars", she tells me. Are you kidding me? That is the only thing on the menu that Henry will eat, so we turned around and got back into the car, which meant I had to squeeze past that stupid truck again, and now I was really pissed. Oh, and I forgot to mention that when we were in Carl Jr., Henry wasn't paying attention and ran right into Grace and knocked her to the floor, where she bonked her head. That, of course, made her cry. Anyway, next we headed to Taco Bell, where I decided to drive through and let the kids just eat in the car. We got our order, and Tyler informed me that he doesn't like sauce on his bean burrito, which would have been good to know when I was ordering the food, so I parked the car, ran in, and switched the burrito. I did feel better after eating. Taco Bell is so good! At this point I gave up on my errands and decided just to get home as fast as possible. On the drive home, Henry was messing around with the middle seat belt, swinging it around like a lasso, and he hit Tyler in the back of the head, which broke the skin. So Tyler was crying from the initial pain and then when he saw the blood on his hand from hold his owie, he really freaked. When we got home I got everyone a popsicle and went up to feed Penny. Next thing I know, I hear a loud crashing sound, and Henry calls up that he needs Krazy glue. Turns out he was wearing my favorite mixing bowl like a hat and dropped it, and it broke. Oh man! I needed some quiet time. I went back upstairs to put Penny down for a nap and Grace told me she had a poopy diaper. So we went to the bathroom to assess the damage. It was full of runny diarrhea! I tried to wrap up the diaper and it squirted out the side and splashed everywhere! At least we were in the bathroom. So I finally get Grace and the bathroom wiped down, and I am heading out to the back yard to throw out the trash, when Henry informs me that he just stepped in Grace's melted popsicle, which she left on the living room rug. So after taking out the trash I cleaned up that mess. Now, here I am, writing this all down. Seeing it in print makes it seem almost comical, like one of those disaster movies that I detest. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to laugh about it.

Social interaction

Taking your kid to the dentist can tell you a lot about their personality. Grace went to her first dentist appointment yesterday. She did great! She held still during the Xrays, even with those horrible bite plates in her mouth. She didn't wiggle at all when the hygienist cleaned or flossed her teeth. She didn't mind any of it! For Grace, it was another chance to interact with new people and charm the pants off of them. She loves that! It is totally foreign to me. I am more like Henry. In the days leading up to his first dentist appointment, he was really apprehensive. He didn't want any part of it. Fortunately we took him to a pediatric dentist who was wonderful, so his experience was a good one. But he had Garrett at his side the whole time, to be his mouthpiece, so he wouldn't have to talk to any of the scary people! Grace, on the other hand, went back with the dental assistant all by herself. She answered everyone's questions clearly and unabashedly. It is just so amazing how kids prettymuch come into the world with the personalities they'll have their whole lives. I certainly didn't teach Grace how to succeed in a social situation. In fact, I should be taking notes from her. Luckily Henry has Garrett. He is like Grace in this way. He is great at getting Henry out of his shell a little at a time. Kindergarten has had a big influence on that too. Henry is very engaging with other kids now, and if you give him a few minutes, he'll even talk to the grown ups, at least when they talk to him first, and ask a question that can be answered with a yes or no. It should be interesting to see how Penny developes.