Not quite the day I had thought it would be...
Have you ever had one of those days that TOTALLY doesn't go the way you thought? I mean one that makes you want to crawl back in bed and get up again just to see if it changes anything? Today was one of those days for me.
TJ woke up with a low grade temp and couldn't go to VBS. I took him instead along with Sari and I to an outdoor birthday party for a little girl from church. TJ seemed fine on the outside, and felt fine on the inside other than a headache, so I just took him along, and he was fine the whole time. We went from there to JoAnn Fabrics. Before I left home, I had tried to print a coupon a dear friend had sent me for 50% off one item, but alas, my printer didn't print. So I went by my husband's office on the way to the party to pick up the coupon (which I e-mailed to him and he printed out). He forgot he had card stock in the printer, so he printed the coupon on card stock...not his day either, LOL. Anyway, driving to JoAnn's I look at the coupon and realize...it's for Internet purchases only! ARG!!!! NO point in that. By the time I pay shipping it negates the savings, so I might as well just go on and get my quilt fabric at the store. Then, I can't find what I want (or really, what I need, based on the parameters of the quilt exchange) but I finally settle on something, but by the time I get to my car, I now have 10 minutes to make a 20-25 minute drive to get my older kids from VBS. Luckily, my girlfriend had called to see if I was picking up or if she was, but unluckily, she wasn't answering either of her phones, so I head that way. She finally calls me back to say she can pick them up, which is an answer to prayer since I would never have made it on time. I get home, carry in a sleeping Sari, make lunch, feed the kids, and let them watch TV for the 25 minutes we have before we have to leave for an allergist appt. I go to rest on the other couch (Sari was in my bed) and they still interrupt me 2 times in 25 minutes. We get up, load up into the car, and I carry a groggy Sari to her seat and buckle her in to realize 10 minutes down the road that I've forgotten her sandwich and we will be at least 1 1/2 hours before I can get her something to eat (I didn't have time to stop then, nor do we pass any restaurants on the back roads).
Fast forward to the allergist's office where I find out he has had flat tire on the way to this office from his other one, and he will be indefinitely delayed. Do I want to wait or reschedule? Hhhmmm, let's think about this...I left and will call to reschedule in month when I feel up to this again, LOL. BUT, since we are already out there, we went to the mall to pickup Scott's and Mimi's pictures from Sears. Except that the only person working was helping someone else spend their money, and refused to even acknowledge my existence for at least 10 minutes. REALLY. And it's not like with 4 kids, I'm standing there making no noise. Not even a, "I'll be with you soon". ARGGGHHH! When she finally does help me, she tries to up-sell me $40 more in pictures, which I politely refuse and chose to instead go in search of food for Sari. We settle on cinnamon pretzels...was I not thinking about the mess a 2 year old can make with things coated in cinnamon sugar? Yikes!
After a make-shift bath with baby wipes, I caved in and spent my last dollar to let them ride one of those ubiquitous kiddie rides they have at malls. This one is a 3 seater carousel. I have 4 kids. Do the math. But, I have a 10 year old, so I let him stand holding the metal poll while the other 3 mostly sit as the ride twirls and twirls. Sari waves, "Hi Mamma" every time she passes. I'm smiling, they are smiling...And the security guard walks up. What am I thinking? Did I fail MOM 101? I have a child STANDING on a ride. That's not SAFE. He could fall 1 1/2 feet to the floor and die a terrible death. In the future I should surely have him sit on the floor of the spinning device...Okay, so she was actually nice, and understood the 3 seats-4 kids dilemma, but she really said the gist of most of that, just in a nicer way. ARGHHHHH!!!
So then, because I am a glutton for punishment, we go back to Sears (we were actually parked there, so we had to go back) where I had promised that after eating, I would look at some PJs TJ couldn't live without. Actually, all of Sears is on sale, with almost all the kids clothes on 50% clearance, and take another 40% off that price. Pinch me, I must be dreaming! Oh, I was dreaming, but it was a nightmare. What made me think shopping with 2 boys and 2 girls ages 10 and under would go well???And of course, I was driven to find the one thing we actually had need of...jeans for Sari. And since I had her with me, I could have her try them on. So now I have 4 kids in a dressing room. And did I mention the AC in Sears is NOT WORKING??? Imagine the noisiest thing you've ever heard, now put it in a 4 x 8 dressing room, and make it sweltering hot so that sweat droplets are rolling between your cleavage, and you've got a glimmer of what it was like. Sari was "all done" after about the 4th outfit (the jeans/capris were all outfits with matching tops). TJ wanted to look for bathing suits. Scott wanted to play with Sari in front of the mirror, and Mimi has $10 burning a hole in her pocket. What was I thinking?
In the end, we bought WAY more than I had planned, but got an incredible deal on all of it. True to form, I go to checkout, still sweating up a storm, and the person in front of me...in the children's clothes dept....is returning a Kitchen Aid mixer...with no receipt...and no box. Really. I can't make this stuff up. They have to go check to see if they even SELL that there, to know if they can accept it for return (they don't and they couldn't). I finally check out, and we go home. I now have 1 hour before I have to be out the door again for my sign language class. I have nothing planned for dinner (thank goodness for frozen meals), but I pull it together quickly, and eat some leftover salad myself. My husband gets home, I leave, and when I get there, there is only one other car, and I don't recognize the driver, but they are in their car waiting. I was not early, so this did not bode well. Wouldn't you know it, class was cancelled.
Just a perfect end to a perfect day :-).
I'm thankful I got my quilt material bought, and I plan to work on it tonight. I'm thankful we had the money to take advantage of the sale today, and love the fact that Sari put on her new bathing suit as soon as we got home and hasn't taken it off. I'm thankful for our little friend C's birthday. She's too cute for words :-). And I'm blessed to even have mundane problems like nothing going as planned when others have problems that are far worse.
until tomorrow,
obm
TJ woke up with a low grade temp and couldn't go to VBS. I took him instead along with Sari and I to an outdoor birthday party for a little girl from church. TJ seemed fine on the outside, and felt fine on the inside other than a headache, so I just took him along, and he was fine the whole time. We went from there to JoAnn Fabrics. Before I left home, I had tried to print a coupon a dear friend had sent me for 50% off one item, but alas, my printer didn't print. So I went by my husband's office on the way to the party to pick up the coupon (which I e-mailed to him and he printed out). He forgot he had card stock in the printer, so he printed the coupon on card stock...not his day either, LOL. Anyway, driving to JoAnn's I look at the coupon and realize...it's for Internet purchases only! ARG!!!! NO point in that. By the time I pay shipping it negates the savings, so I might as well just go on and get my quilt fabric at the store. Then, I can't find what I want (or really, what I need, based on the parameters of the quilt exchange) but I finally settle on something, but by the time I get to my car, I now have 10 minutes to make a 20-25 minute drive to get my older kids from VBS. Luckily, my girlfriend had called to see if I was picking up or if she was, but unluckily, she wasn't answering either of her phones, so I head that way. She finally calls me back to say she can pick them up, which is an answer to prayer since I would never have made it on time. I get home, carry in a sleeping Sari, make lunch, feed the kids, and let them watch TV for the 25 minutes we have before we have to leave for an allergist appt. I go to rest on the other couch (Sari was in my bed) and they still interrupt me 2 times in 25 minutes. We get up, load up into the car, and I carry a groggy Sari to her seat and buckle her in to realize 10 minutes down the road that I've forgotten her sandwich and we will be at least 1 1/2 hours before I can get her something to eat (I didn't have time to stop then, nor do we pass any restaurants on the back roads).
Fast forward to the allergist's office where I find out he has had flat tire on the way to this office from his other one, and he will be indefinitely delayed. Do I want to wait or reschedule? Hhhmmm, let's think about this...I left and will call to reschedule in month when I feel up to this again, LOL. BUT, since we are already out there, we went to the mall to pickup Scott's and Mimi's pictures from Sears. Except that the only person working was helping someone else spend their money, and refused to even acknowledge my existence for at least 10 minutes. REALLY. And it's not like with 4 kids, I'm standing there making no noise. Not even a, "I'll be with you soon". ARGGGHHH! When she finally does help me, she tries to up-sell me $40 more in pictures, which I politely refuse and chose to instead go in search of food for Sari. We settle on cinnamon pretzels...was I not thinking about the mess a 2 year old can make with things coated in cinnamon sugar? Yikes!
After a make-shift bath with baby wipes, I caved in and spent my last dollar to let them ride one of those ubiquitous kiddie rides they have at malls. This one is a 3 seater carousel. I have 4 kids. Do the math. But, I have a 10 year old, so I let him stand holding the metal poll while the other 3 mostly sit as the ride twirls and twirls. Sari waves, "Hi Mamma" every time she passes. I'm smiling, they are smiling...And the security guard walks up. What am I thinking? Did I fail MOM 101? I have a child STANDING on a ride. That's not SAFE. He could fall 1 1/2 feet to the floor and die a terrible death. In the future I should surely have him sit on the floor of the spinning device...Okay, so she was actually nice, and understood the 3 seats-4 kids dilemma, but she really said the gist of most of that, just in a nicer way. ARGHHHHH!!!
So then, because I am a glutton for punishment, we go back to Sears (we were actually parked there, so we had to go back) where I had promised that after eating, I would look at some PJs TJ couldn't live without. Actually, all of Sears is on sale, with almost all the kids clothes on 50% clearance, and take another 40% off that price. Pinch me, I must be dreaming! Oh, I was dreaming, but it was a nightmare. What made me think shopping with 2 boys and 2 girls ages 10 and under would go well???And of course, I was driven to find the one thing we actually had need of...jeans for Sari. And since I had her with me, I could have her try them on. So now I have 4 kids in a dressing room. And did I mention the AC in Sears is NOT WORKING??? Imagine the noisiest thing you've ever heard, now put it in a 4 x 8 dressing room, and make it sweltering hot so that sweat droplets are rolling between your cleavage, and you've got a glimmer of what it was like. Sari was "all done" after about the 4th outfit (the jeans/capris were all outfits with matching tops). TJ wanted to look for bathing suits. Scott wanted to play with Sari in front of the mirror, and Mimi has $10 burning a hole in her pocket. What was I thinking?
In the end, we bought WAY more than I had planned, but got an incredible deal on all of it. True to form, I go to checkout, still sweating up a storm, and the person in front of me...in the children's clothes dept....is returning a Kitchen Aid mixer...with no receipt...and no box. Really. I can't make this stuff up. They have to go check to see if they even SELL that there, to know if they can accept it for return (they don't and they couldn't). I finally check out, and we go home. I now have 1 hour before I have to be out the door again for my sign language class. I have nothing planned for dinner (thank goodness for frozen meals), but I pull it together quickly, and eat some leftover salad myself. My husband gets home, I leave, and when I get there, there is only one other car, and I don't recognize the driver, but they are in their car waiting. I was not early, so this did not bode well. Wouldn't you know it, class was cancelled.
Just a perfect end to a perfect day :-).
I'm thankful I got my quilt material bought, and I plan to work on it tonight. I'm thankful we had the money to take advantage of the sale today, and love the fact that Sari put on her new bathing suit as soon as we got home and hasn't taken it off. I'm thankful for our little friend C's birthday. She's too cute for words :-). And I'm blessed to even have mundane problems like nothing going as planned when others have problems that are far worse.
until tomorrow,
obm
Comments
I really think they view it as benign parental guidance, kind of a warped Titus Two...like, "just in case you didn't know already by child number 4, you really should bath them regularly and thoroughly". There's a great deal of comfort in knowing that others view it as criticism of our parenting abilities too.