O hears Louis getting dressed this morning at 6:30 and is immediately wide awake wanting to talk with him. And then she tells us she's wet the bed. Our bed. Which she climbs into every night in the wee hours of the morning but has never wet before. The bed which I'm still trying to sleep in, only now my clothes are also wet from her.
I wake up only the amount required to strip the bed and start a load of laundry before I climb into her bed for a few more precious minutes of sleep. Louis gets her breakfast ready before he leaves for work and O plays in the living room. About 10 minutes of sleep go by before I hear a crash of lots of little pieces and can no longer sleep because it's just not worth it. I shower, scarf down leftovers from dinner, and we get ready for school.
I battle with her over hair combing. She wants to leave her hair wild and free and I insist it needs to be braided so as to reduce the risk of catching the lice that appeared at school last week. After much negotiation, she finally agrees to my way, "for the bugs."
I pull up in front of school, where we watch a family work through the negotiation process of getting out of the car seat and into school so mom can just breathe for an hour or so. Kid doesn't want to leave the car and is crying. O stops to stare because she's concerned about him. Another family pulls up. O runs up to say hi because the girl is one of O's best friends. I give the mom a hug and ask how she's doing. She tells me she's fine now that the kids are safe. Huh? Apparently her husband had a manic episode of either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and decided to take his kids to San Diego for a week. During that time, she had to file for divorce and then full and sole custody, which she got. The dad is out of the house and not doing well. I can't even.
Drop off goes well, as O is super comfortable with school now, thank goodness. I zip away to Thrift Town, where I drop off a couple bags of items that didn't survive the KonMari process. I stop at the dry cleaners and then the library to return our Bugs Life DVD (it was "eh").
When I pull up in front of the house, I notice my front tire making a hissing noise and going flat. Awesome. I call my dad, because I don't know what else to do. He says he'll be right over. My one helpful grandparent! Still don't know what I would have done if he wasn't around. I try to send a couple quick emails before he comes, since I'm supposed to be using my time to work but I get interrupted by a phone call. The dad who is hearing voices and taking his kids across the state wants to talk so he can tell me his side. He's talking and my dad is pulling up to fix the tire and I'm trying to place an online bulk order before 10 am so it will ship today and our holistic moms group will have it next week.
I'm so grateful for my dad's help and watch him patch the hole so I can get to Costco for a new tire, since I'm still under warranty. I do get to send a couple emails and start a load of laundry before it's time to pick up O. At school I realize I forgot to bring the tuition payment that's due on the 1st but we won't be back to school until the 2nd, ugh. From school, we head straight to Costco, where they tell me that the patch in my tire may have voided my warranty, but they won't know until they look inside the tire and the whole thing will take about two hours.
O and I head inside for an I-can't-believe-we're-eating-this caesar salad and hot dog lunch, with a smoothie that I ask O to hold and which she then drops and splatters all over the floor and my pants. Client then calls to ask about birth kit supplies and I try to sound professional and calm. Costco gives me a new smoothie, which is so nice. After lunch, we wander down every aisle and grab about a dozen samples. I also end up with $80 of groceries I wasn't really planning to buy but hey, might as well. The car is done on time and the warranty still covers it, phew.
I unload the car in the rain. I switch the laundry, set O up with art supplies, and I lie down on the sofa for a moment of stillness. A moment goes by too quickly and it's time for B to come over and play with O while I try to get some work done. No work gets done because O is being a brat and not taking turns with the game and I have to give her a talk. Then they both need snacks. Then O flips out again because he unintentionally does something to her art project from earlier. She slams her door and says she needs space. I am so embarrassed and apologize so much. I want him to come back. I know she's tired. I just want to get some work done!
B leaves and it's time to make dinner. O peels garlic while we chat. One of my most favorite times of the day. Today she wants to know how baby S got out of auntie's tummy at the hospital and then how her tummy got closed again. She then tells me, "Hey, Mama, you and Daddy picked the best school for me because I love it!" Well, now. I put on Princess and the Frog while dinner cooks and we watch together and wait for daddy to come home. Daddy is forty minutes later than normal due to traffic. He gets to spend about 15 minutes with O before she's in bed. She finally falls asleep and I get to talk with my husband.
While we watch Parenthood, I prepare special foot baths with salts and lavender so we can soak while we watch. I still need to take care of him.
I'm exhausted. I'm never caught up on email. But my life could be so, so much worse. I have no complaints. Tomorrow is Saturday and I will sleep in past 7 am, which will be awesome.
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