Almost sick

At 2:35 p.m. yesterday I went and picked Zachary up from school. This is his normal release time. He jumps in the car and starts telling me this story. "Mom, I'm sick. I had to go to the nurse today and I have a temperature of 99.95. I have to stay home for two days." Wow, really? I'm thinking at 6 he's already laying it on thick, but I went along with it. I asked him how come they didn't call me, to which he responded that he was waiting for the lady but she never showed up. So then I asked if they sent a note home, they hadn't. But low and behold when we walked in the door, the phone was ringing. I missed the call but they left a voicemail. "This is Judy from Como. I took Zachary to see the nurse today and he had a temperature of 99.9. We feel that he is getting the flu so depending on his condition he should remain home for 24-48 hours. If you have any questions, feel free to call."

Now I'm not upset about my child staying home from school with a fever. I am upset that he wasn't sick enough to warrant a phone call to come and get him, but they can foresee that he will be too sick the next day. Really? Where is the logic?

Pumpkin Carving

So, in my attempt to be mother of the year or at least get back in the running, I went to Walgreen's and picked up the pumpkin carving kit. I let Zachary pick out which pumpkin we would carve first and what design we would put on it. Needless to say, Zachary picked out the design with the greatest difficulty. Not a problem I thought to myself, I can handle this. Besides, we have the special tools to make this a breeze. Well, Zachary and I used a nail to etch out the design while Kylen played in pumpkin guts. So far so good, now all we have to do is carve it out. Small problem I didn't even get the entire top cut off before both of our handy dandy carving tools were broken. In the end, it took me 2 1/2 hours to carve one freakin' pumpkin. As you probably have guessed by now I did not even attempt to carve any of the remaining three. Next year, we'll stick to pumpkin paint. It's less messy and 100% less frustrating!!

T.V.

Have you ever heard of a child that doesn't watch T.V. on his/her own accord? Me either, until I gave birth to one. Now I'm not saying that parents should use the television as a means of supervision, nor should children use the television in place of physical activity, you know playing. But sometimes it would just be so nice to have them sit for a half hour and not destroy anything, not disappear, and not yell at the top of their lungs. So in order to achieve this "gift", I have tried everything, old cartoons, new cartoons, PBS, Disney, Nickelodeon, Maury, Jerry, CSI and even sporting events. Nothing. He has absolutely no interest in television, most good parents would say this is a good thing. Not me, this is awful, all I want is the measly half hour, that I can put my parenting on auto-pilot, but I guess such is not my life!! Maybe in a few years I can get him hooked on video games!

Potty Training

Due to a lack of communication, potty training is going very slowly in our house. However, last night the boys were upstairs playing in their, den of I don't go up there it's a mess, playroom, when Zachary comes flying down the stairs talking about how he and Kylen are just going to have to go to bed. As any parent knows this is too good to be true so you ask the universal question, Why? Apparently, during a bout of hide-and-go-seek, Kylen took of his clothes and shit on the floor. First, how does this happen, even at 6 and 3 that should definitely gross one or both of them out. Second, of all the sitting we've done on the potty chair, why in god's green earth did you think it was a better idea to leave a deuce on the floor. Finally, you're right Zachary it is time to get ready for bed, I'm officially irritated, grossed out and frustrated, so having the two of you safe and sound and not shitting on the floor, is probably the best place for you!!

Rainy Mornings

Mornings are not a favorite part of my day but this morning Dustin got Zachary ready for school and took him letting me sleep til about 8:45. Excellent! Kylen was still sound asleep and his bus doesn't come until 9:25. Quarter after nine I gently wake him and all hell breaks loose, he isn't getting dressed, he isn't going to school, he wants coffee creamer for breakfast and by god he's not wearing his seatbelt this morning either. Needless to say, we missed the bus. Now I know my children and Kylen was probably a little run down this morning and probably not feeling the best either but all I could think is "there is no way in hell, you're spending the day with me acting like this". So being the good mother that I am I let him have some coffee creamer for breakfast, got him redressed and loaded him in the car. He arrived on time with seatbelt, hearing aids, backpack and nebulizer in tow. Hopefully he has as nice of a time as I am sitting at home in the peace and quiet!!

Our fun family day at the apple orchard!!

Sounds great, a day at the apple orchard complete with a petting zoo, train, and tons of hay to play in!! What can possibly go wrong? Well in a nutshell, Kylen can almost killed himself by crawling under an electric and almost falling into a river, I shocked the shit out of myself trying to save Kylen from falling down the 45' drop into a river and Kylen thanked me by picking up fallen apples and chucking them at easy targets--children sitting nicely in wagons. Luckily, Zachary was well behaved and he did get to leave with a bag of apples!!