Would your ugly come out too?

As this morning started, I suspected it was going to be a difficult day but hoped for the best.  You see I hauled everyone to the pediatrician yesterday to get checked out because I am about to go MAD after 3 months of the snot and coughing crud cycling between the 3 of them leaving me feeling like I'm drowning in a pool of snot!  After all the trouble to go to the doctor, a wrestling match with Bryleigh for a breathing treatment and $138, the verdict was allergies...sorry.  Wow, really?  The croup-like barking cough that each have suffered with on an ongoing basis for 3 months is really just allergies?  The volume of snot that could fill a mason jar with each blow is just allergies?  The fact that after drinking after each other or being around other children at school or church makes it start over again could only be seasonal allergies?  REALLY?  I figure some allergies may complicate it but could that be the only cause...especially if it means no treatment options?  GRRRRR......

Well, I tried to be determined to have a good day despite the snot filled challenges that were inevitably going to present themselves.  However, it soon was revealed that apparently it was going to be an UGLY day.  Not the kind that bubbles up for a moment but is quickly diffused.  Instead it seems to be the kind of day where the ugly blasts out like a volcano erupting leaving a lasting impact on everyone involved.  I know others have had the same experiences but sometimes as a stay-at-home mom whose spent the better part of 3 months drowning in snot or catching coughs, I just feel so isolated that I don't realize I am not alone.  Are there other moms out there who can testify?  So here is how our morning went (within an hour and a half of the girls getting up).

The big girls got up ready to chit-chat and play, but we managed to get breakfast on the table for them to eat.  They decided to eat at their little folding table for something different this morning, which seemed like a good idea.  While I fixed Bryleigh's oatmeal, the girls began to play by placing their cereal pieces on the ABC/123 border around the table.  This was fine because they were practicing counting and ABC's while eating...until Caillyn decided that stealing Meliya's cereal and watching her get upset would be entertaining.  Wow, my 3-year-old's creativity never ceases to get her into trouble!  While getting Bryleigh up and dressed (not to mention cleaning out a RIDICULOUS amount of snot from her nose), I hear the big girls at it again.  Up, down, bicker...(sigh).

I feed Bryleigh and myself while encouraging the girls to talk nicely to each other and love each other instead of using ugly voices and being mean to each other.  For a brief moment, I thought we might have a better day than I expected.  Well, not so much.

As I cleaned up from breakfast, both big girls decided that one whole bowl of cereal wasn't enough so they requested bananas and peanut butter in a not so considerate fashion.  After correcting the impatient methods of their requests, they sat down to eat at the table.  However, keeping a 3 year old in a chair to eat requires industrial straps and buckles of which I have none.  So instead I spent the next 15 minutes, while trying to get a fussy baby to play and start Meliya's school work,  getting her to go back to the table to eat and not spread peanut butter EVERYWHERE. 

Of course, this just ushered in the time for the dog to pipe up and make his desire for breakfast well known.  This presents its own problems.  Because this sweet puppy is too scared to eat in the confined space of the laundry room where it is safe from the baby, I had to clear out the end of the kitchen so he could eat without interruption from Bryleigh's overwhelming desire to dump out his food and water bowls.  This means holding cranky Bryleigh while trying to go over Meliya's school work.  All of which was interrupted by telling Caillyn to sit back down and finish eating, blowing noses and starting over when Meliya got too distracted to say anything intelligible.  My frustrations were building and now at a medium simmer. 

However, it never just ends there does it?  No, it seems that the threshold that keeps civility in and uncontrolled emotion out has to fail on days like these.  So while I'm trying to find peace in the midst of chaos with my coffee beside me, wrangling Bryleigh, and working with Meliya's recitations, I'm pulled into the kitchen with Samson beating on the back door wanting in and Caillyn, once again, out of her seat.  So I quickly hop up to take care of the dog and Caillyn to only hear a scream from Meliya and then crying.  As I round the corner of the kitchen to see what drama has unfolded, I see Meliya dripping and crying, Bryleigh screaming with my coffee mug in her hand and coffee, the lovely caramel-colored liquid comfort painted all over the chair and leaving a puddle on the floor.  There it is...BOOM! 

The volcano erupts, not with a sputter but with a Mt. Saint Helen's kind of explosion that leaves hysteria everywhere.  My fragile nerves could no longer handle the box of tissues I had just gone through while blowing noses, peanut butter mess spreading with every turn of my head, cranky baby's screaming, homeschooling headaches, dog's demanding attention, plans falling apart and now the straw that broke my back...yes I feel like a camel...the coffee everywhere but in my blessed cup or belly. 

So there I was standing amidst the thick cloud of ash my explosion brought, wiping up sticky coffee, checking and changing Meliya, comforting Bryleigh and pushing Samson out of the middle of everything I was trying to do...and yes blowing lots of noses too.  We all were in tears by the end of the chaos.

However as I recount my exhausting morning, I try to find something redeeming about my thwarted plans.  The coffee was only luke-warm so it didn't harm any delicate skin.  My laptop is safe, all the coffee missed it.  The chair was fake leather so it cleaned up easily.  Very little coffee actually touched the new rug.  I had made extra coffee so I still had another cup waiting for me in the pot.  We all had a healthy cry which helped our attitudes adjust for the better.  And now, as I sit here writing I've been able to recall the sweet playing that Bryleigh and Meliya did after everyone settled down.  Peek-a-boo between a baby and her big sister is just precious.  Caillyn, Bryleigh and Meliya all cuddling up in my lap before lunch is a rare treasure.  Meliya being able to recount some of her homeschooling facts without much prompting reminds me we're making headway even if it's slow sometimes.  The list could go on.

I don't think the day is a total loss.  However, I am going to have to let go of the disappointment I feel because tomorrow will not be filled with Thanksgiving parties and friends at school but instead will be filled with blowing noses and wiping snot once again.  Hmm...maybe one day I will be able to enjoy those treasured moments without having to be slowed down by a river of snot or trashcans full of used tissues!  One can only hope!

In honor of Thanksgiving...

I've seen quite a few people on Facebook post things they are thankful for in honor of Thanksgiving.  Although this is a noble thing everyone should devote some time to do, I myself have not joined on the Thanksgiving Facebook post bandwagon.  It's not because I haven't thought about being thankful but more that I've just not had time to post something thoughtful. 

Since Facebook posts are limited to only a small amount of information, I thought I would blog instead...this might take more than a few lines.  So here we go...

Today, I am thankful for changing a wet crib sheet.  I know, sounds weird but here is the behind the scenes info that will help you understand...

I was awoken this morning to a sound coming from that lovely electronic devise called a baby monitor.  My little Bryleigh has not transitioned into the time change like her older sisters have.  Instead, she decided to wake up about an hour and a half before normal.  After rolling over a few times wishing she would go back to sleep, I finally got up to get dressed.  Since I have learned that listening to a baby fuss while getting dressed just stresses me out, I turned off the monitor to have a little peace before being bombarded by a fussy, hungry baby.  Once I opened the door to go to the den, I heard THAT sound...you know the one...the scream from the depths that tells you, "I'M AWAKE!  COME GET ME!!!"  So the day was off to a fast start...

Despite the fussiness, we managed to get through breakfast (or at least the girls got to eat) and I was trying to get Bryleigh to play so that I could gulp down a bowl of cereal.  Of course, she was tired from all the screaming she had blessed us with and instead wanted to be held.  After listening to the fussing for a few minutes while trying to pour me a bowl of cereal, I decided to lay her down to see if she would take a quick nap to help offset the crankiness and let me eat.  So I picked her up off the floor and laid her down in bed. 

I don't know how much time had passed but it wasn't more than 10 minutes...you know just enough to eat, but not do dishes...before Meliya said, "Bryleigh took her diaper off."  Now I'm confused.  I thought, how can she see Bryleigh in her room?  And just then, Caillyn walks into the kitchen carrying Bryleigh's diaper.  Bryleigh had apparently noticed that she was wearing a dress without bloomers within the 5 minutes I left her to play this morning and proceeded to rip off the velcro on one side so that it would fall off.  In my shock and horror, I had flashbacks of the mess I found her in the last time she ripped her diaper's velcro off!  I ran into her room to find her standing proudly at the end of her crib smiling widely.  As I turned on the light and looked in the crib, she looked at the big wet spot on the sheets and danced up and down laughing.  She was proud she had tee-teed in her bed.  I, however, was relieved that it was only a wet sheet and not a poo-poo disaster!

Thank you, Jesus!  Today, I will gladly give You praise for something as simple as changing a wet sheet!