Mommy Moments

1. Yesterday John and I dropped off his car to see about repairs and then I took him to work. He was only going to stay for a few hours, so he suggested I take Keith and Mary (it's Spring Break) to get haircuts. OK. Keith's hair is atrocious, as previously mentioned. I handed him over to the stylist and said, "Do what you can." She thinned it out and trimmed up the ends--it still looked awful. Well, I guess it WILL since he's been growing it out...maybe it needs to grow out some more. Maybe it'll look better after Keith washes it tonight.... When John saw it, he HATED it. He's throwing in the towel and wants me to take Keith back to get his hair cut super short--the way *I* wanted it in the first place!

2. After the haircuts, I took the kids to Wendy's. An employee took pity on me and my three-kid haul and helped me carry our trays to our table. I got the kids seated, doled out the food and drinks, and then went up to get more napkins and ketchup. In the 30 seconds I was away, Izzy managed to get a hold of the barbecue sauce and spill it all down her shirt and into her lap, and then she sat on a pile of it, too.

3. I was thinking of stopping by at the park, or maybe at my old job (was in that spot of town), but I couldn't bloody well go with a kid with barbecue sauce all over her butt. I loaded up the kids and headed to Tar-jay--my favorite cheap knit pants store. Of COURSE it just figures that ALL the knit pants have mysteriously disappeared (I couldn't even find them in the clearance racks). And nothing else was tempting my pocketbook, so I grabbed the detergent and fabric softener they had on sale (AND a bottle of stuff to spray on the Izzy stains!) and made my quick escape--but not before running into an acquaintance from work! As Izzy was in the cart at this point, I don't think he saw her self-marinade.

4. Not to be defeated, I loaded up the kids AGAIN and headed across the street to the mall. TCP was having a BETTER sale than even last week, so I grabbed a pair of pants (alas! the only pair left in her size!), TWO shirts, and two sets of barrettes. The kids were spreading out and playing hide and seek in the racks, and my patience was about to burst, BUT upon leaving the store, I saw a cute pair of shoes for Mary and ended up going back to the register to buy those also.... Also while in the store, I had a freaky mommy moment where I couldn't remember if after putting the kids in the car at Target whether or not I then remembered to put my purchases in the car. I couldn't even remember if I put the cart in the cart bin or just left it there in the parking lot (I'm OBSESSIVE about putting the cart back to be courteous to future parkers). I was almost back to the mall parking lot (with those crazy, wily kids in tow) when everything clicked back into place (I remembered the trunk door being dirty when I shut it!), and I could breathe again.

5. Izzy had to go potty, and we tried at all three stops (Wendy's, Tar-jay, mall), and she absolutely REFUSED to go. While going potty at the museum on Sunday, the @#$% toilet flushed on her butt and completely FREAKED HER OUT. Even when I pick toilets that DON'T automatically flush, the SOUND of the other toilets flushing freaks her out and she starts screaming and insists on being taken off. A ban on public toilets!!!

6. At this point, completely frazzled, I call John to see how much longer he will be. "About an hour." So--it's not quite worth it for me to go home, but I've pretty much run out of places I'm willing to take my squirrelly (albeit, now freshly-clothed) kids. I decide to take a chance at the park. Maybe the running around will get it out of their systems. Just as I'm leaving the mall parking lot, John calls again and says he can leave now. Cripes! So the three pent-up kids and their most-anxious mother drive all the way back downtown through heavy traffic (Did I mention that there is major construction going on, so most of the exits from the bypass are blocked? No?! WELL!). After picking up John, we then had to drive ALL THE WAY BACK to the part of town I was JUST in to check on the car. Upon getting there John decides to go ahead and have the repairs done. "I should have just called. I don't know why I bothered to drive all this way." INDEED. Because at this point, Izzy has missed her nap, and the kids have missed a BEAUTIFUL day being lugged from one boring place to another and ALL have gone COMPLETELY INSANE. John is gritting his teeth, and I'm giving the evil eye to the back seats of the mini-van every five seconds.

7. After getting home and letting the kids run out their jigginess, we were all happier. Mary even finally pulled her tooth that's been loose for so long (see how good I'm being at letting things go?) that the adult tooth had started growing in behind it. The application of an ice cube helped her gums--and her nerves. Well, one tooth fairy FORGOT and exhausted, went to bed without a thought.... The OTHER tooth fairy put the money down--and added an extra bonus for the "effort" (these teeth are getting more and more expensive--and we've still got two more kids to go through this!). Mary woke me up pouting this morning because she couldn't find her money. "She didn't leave me anything! I worked real hard at pulling that tooth yesterday!" She was TICKED. When Mary left the room, I tried waking up the Grumpy tooth fairy to question the location of the goods. Not happening. So I finally got up and helped Mary look for the money. It took forever. Next time, the fairy who deposited it needs to help her look for it.

8. When I went to make lunch for the kids today, I got side-tracked by the computer (which I haven't had on in several days). I finally shook myself off after a while and went upstairs. Well, Mary got sick of waiting for me and had already made lunch for herself and her siblings, and they were enjoying their repast out on the porch. Call me chagrined.