Moldy Cheerios, Pretty Toenails, and Leaps of Faith

I'm pooped! Meet and Greet might only last for an hour but it takes hours to get all of the paperwork prepped and other little odds and ends taken care of. I made myself a list about 1:00 this morning as things kept popping into my mind that I'd forgotten to do. When I arrived at school this morning, I must have tripped into a time warp because I think I lost about an hour and barely got everything ready. Meet and Greet is kind of like hosting a dinner party at your house. No matter how hard you try to get everything perfect, you look up in the middle of the meal to see a cobweb dangling from the ceiling or a moldy Cheerio peeking out from under the sofa. Heck, in my house, the Cheerios have gotten brave. They don't even bother to peek out. They just lounge in the middle of the floor knowing that Annie will eventually either eat them or pick them up and put them in her purse! Anyway, as parents began coming into the room, I started noticing things that I'd forgotten to do and it was driving me nuts! Oh well!

I was thrilled to meet all of my parents today. I have a great group of kids and an incredible number of mamas who want to help out! I can rest much easier tonight knowing that I have such wonderful support!

When I finally made it home this afternoon, Annie came running to me and said, "Look! Lindsey painted my toenails!" Seriously? The girls won't sit still for me to cut her nails and she let Lindsey paint her nails?

Yes, she did. She even put a flower on her big toe! That's the first time her toes have ever been painted and she absolutely loved it! I needed to run an errand this afternoon and I tried to put her socks and shoes on and she went into hysterics because I was covering up the masterpiece. (Yeah, she went barefooted. I wasn't willing to do that battle)! Dasha had her nails done, too, of course. It's so great to have a sitter that actually engages with the kids and doesn't just sit and watch TV or text.  As a note, Grant loves Lindsey too even though she didn't paint his nails!

Once the sitter left, the children took their halos and wings off and traded them in for pitch forks! I just don't understand why Grant and Annie constantly battle! He's 11! She's 2! I thought with 9 years in between them that this wouldn't ever be an issue!

I know people think I stage these photos but just ask Grant. Annie was pretending to cook and thought it would be a great idea to "clip" his nose with the tongs! Then, she started whining for some milk and I said, "How do you ask?" I simply wanted her to say, "Please." Nope. No way. Her response was, "I ask you do it now!" Um. I'm thinking that I might have said that more than once to the big kids (and probably Annie)! The girl never stops! It was about this time that her normal sitter called me to let me know that she was back from Morocco and wanted me to bring Annie tomorrow. I toyed with the idea of running around the house screaming, "Hallelujah!" When I told Annie that she could go see Fatima tomorrow, she immediately got her shoes and went to the door. When I re-explained that we'd go AFTER she slept, she said she wanted to go to bed. Once again, I thought about dancing around singing, "Oh Happy Day!" Annie went to bed happily at 7:30! Yee Haw! As a parent, it's such a comfort to know that the your kids truly love their caregivers.

As for my emotional state this week, I've been on a miniature roller coaster. I traded the ginormous hills and dips for something a little more tame this week. Dealing with trying to get things done around the house one-handed has been really frustrating and watching the kids (especially Grant) try to fill in the gaps has just magnified my frustrations. Also, transitioning the kids to middle school this week has been really tough. I'm used to having someone to help me make decisions about Dasha's educational issues and other things dealing with the kids. While I'm quite competent to make decisions about these issues alone, it sure was nice to have someone else who knew the kids intimately to help make the best possible decisions for them. The icing on the cake came when I had to preview the sex education curriculum at the middle school. I'm not quite sure where Eric left off his conversation about sex with Grant. I don't think like a man (thank goodness) so I just don't know if this stuff is really what we want him to know. And, who the heck is going to teach this stuff? I think that was the point when I felt the biggest loss. Anyway, that's just surface abrasion kind of stuff, though. That's not the heart splitting kind of drama I've dealt with over the last few weeks. I'm sure that this kiddie sized roller coaster will eject me at some point and I'll land back in line for the Goliath but for now, I'm grateful that I've been able to stomach the little dips and rises while getting everything prepped for next week.

Tomorrow afternoon, I have another visit to the doctor to check my wrist. I'm sad to say that I might have sealed my own fate tonight, though. I wasn't wearing my splint because I was getting Annie ready for bed and we were just snuggling. (See, I can always justify not wearing it. Who would ever question me or condemn me for not wearing it in order to snuggle a sweet little angel)? Anyway, Annie decided to jump toward me suddenly. My choices were to catch her or let her land on the floor head first. I caught her. With both hands. Without my splint on. I'm admitting right now that if I end up with a cast, it's my own darn fault. My wrist is swelling up again despite the ice I have on it. Who knew that Annie would randomly decide to throw herself off of my bed and test my reflexes? Tonight will be another Tylenol and Tiger Balm night. Hopefully, I haven't put myself back to square one.

But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward" (Jeremiah 7:24)