Hiring Babysitters, No Hair Cutting Required

Did you miss me yesterday? Cause I can ‘xplain. Cleaned three messy kids’ rooms (took pix, but may be too embarrassed to post), vacuumed all upstairs, stairs, half of downstairs, washed/changed all bedding, reconciled my bank account with Quicken (on the day the statement came-go me!), and Vanessa came to visit us. We ran to Harp’s to get more dinner ingredients, made Philly cheese steaks (Ches is VeRy good at making!), homemade fries, and strawberries. Yum! Then we cleaned up, Vanessa left, and the kids jammied and got ready for bed. I vegged for at least 20 minutes on the couch, before moving to the bedroom to Wii for a little bit, then laid in bed reading my new Storage (I know, but I LoVE it! By Better Homes & Gardens), then knew I was headed south. I brought Lexi down, washed my face, and crashed. I was so very tired. Cleaning is draining. And when I was wii’ing (three i's in a row just look wrong), the Wii lady voice/trainer said, “I bet you’ll sleep well tonight,” and it was Suggestive Psychological Babble (that worked).

So today, guess what? Yep, busy! I had an appointment for the kids’ haircuts at ten, so I got ready, then we pulled it together and left. We were on time, but she was still busy. We waited a minute, and the kids were really very good (small cheer!). Mary Claire was first, and was fine. Clay was second, and was a little fussy-he doesn’t like even ONE hair on him! He had some hair on his face and kept using the(incredibly hairy) cape to wipe his face, thus making it Worse. Ethan was last, and The Worst!! He screamed, yelled (not the same thing), fought me, kicked, snotted up, teared up, swung his arms, yelled some more, and generally wore me out! When he was done (or when we just quit), he looked at me and said, “Night, night”. He was equally tired! On the way home, I called Ches, and my hand was shaking from muscle fatigue! My body was so sore, I can’t even imagine little Ethan’s.

Next was a quick lunch together, then Mary Claire and I were off to Kiersten’s birthday party. It was very cute-a rocker/karaoke/guitar theme. She had fun, got a blow-up guitar, worried about a few things, but thanked me for taking her(!). We didn’t really have time to run home before church so I called Ches, and we Made Plans. Sis and I ran into Fabric Gallery and bought some fabric for new insulin pump pouches (I wanted her to pick some fabrics/colors), then we hurried off to church. Our bishop, Anthony Taylor, was there, so it was CroWdeD! There were lots of extra chairs around the sanctuary, and they were full! It was an extra long Mass. And she complained about her shoes hurting, and her tummy hurt (she was 127, then 220 just 30 minutes later!), and how many more songs…

Afterwards, we went back to the house, picked up Ches and the boys, and went to eat, which I was not looking forward to at all (for good reason-I am psychic). We went to Jose’s, which was an okay choice. We got there, they didn’t take our order for forever (10 minutes with children is toooo long), then Ethan started his “Get Down” stuff. He got out, was screaming, trying to climb over our booth, etc. Ches took him to the car, and I called him when the food came out (only about 4 minutes later). Then before we were done, he started it again. It’s just a big ol’ waste of $45. Yep, it’s not cheap to eat out with 3 ordering kids anymore. We have made a Decision. From now on, we will save the $21 it takes to buy their kid menu items, and use the $21 to pay a babysitter once a week so we can go out alone for 3 hours ($7 an hour-wanna take a turn??) and eat slowly so we can digest our food before we leave (and maybe order dessert and have meaningful conversation?).

So then Ches dropped me off at Hobby Lobby (more fabric pieces), ran to get gas and a Dt. Coke at McDonald’s (his second favorite hobby), and then back to get me. Then home, kids jammied, and into bed. Well, Mary Claire was 336, so I had to change her site really quick. Then I had to prewash the fabrics to start pump pouches (I predict sewing is in my future…).

Now that I’ve had a few minutes to catch you up, I have to get ready for tomorrow! Agenda follows:
11:15am Lunch together, clean up
12pm Ethan down for nap
1-2:30 JDRF Family Event at Fast Lane (bowling & games)
3-4:30 Nora’s Bday Party
4:55-5:05pm Eat dinner together
5:15-6:15pm Ches and Clay to Church
6:30-7:30 Kids bathed and to bed, and we get ready for another day: make lunches, pack backpacks, lay out clothes

My new blog title will henceforth be: So you wanna be a mom?

We had a discussion about only children (no siblings). They must never argue with their siblings, never fight about who got more jell-o with Cool Whip (tonight’s snack), who got to go to a party today/who didn’t, they want sibling (which one changes day-to-day) to get out of their room, someone touched them, they want different crayons (at Jose’s), who drew better, how realistic (or Not) the other person’s drawing was, who got more reading time (just guess). Is it quiet at your house? Then you need more kids! You haven’t experienced full-on parenting! (ok, sometimes we’re jealous)
Maybe you could try rent-a-sibling for a day. Or we do a three-for-one deal for three hours for $21. Have you heard about it?