Sometimes, you just have to laugh

Today was a pretty impressively bad day. Luckily, the kids are sleeping and my wonderful husband made me a chocolate martini. otherwise, I might not be smiling right now!

Beth was pretty sick yesterday. She had the same virus her sister had on Saturday - a very high fever with lethargy. Beth doesn't handle high fevers well, so I spent the entire day holding her with her moaning and fussing. She refused to nap for more than 10 minutes at a stretch, which made for a long day for me and for Nora. Nora did very well though - luckily, she loves being read to and she loves trying to read her Bob books as well, both of which I could do with her while holding Beth. We also did a lot of coloring with markers and crayons and a bit of watercolor painting.

Last night, Beth didn't sleep very well at all. We were expecting it as Nora also didn't sleep very well Saturday night. Andy and I both spent some time with Beth in the rocking chair and listening to her fuss in her sleep.

Now this brings us to this morning. I was exhausted, which probably did not help. It started with Beth waking up and wanting a story. Not a big deal. Then Nora woke up. That's when the problems started. One of the first things she said to me was "mommy, you have a big squishy belly." Great. Thanks Nora, I'm self-conscious enough without you adding your opinion! The next hour was a frenzy of getting the kids fed, dressed, hair brushed and gear packed for Nora's swim lesson. Throw in a few fights and stubborn behavior from the kids and it was a bit insane. Nora's swim teacher was a no-show (to her credit, the actual teacher knew she couldn't make it and HAD found a replacement...it was the replacement who no-showed). Luckily, there are two lessons at the same time - so the teacher from the other class taught both classes and Nora was still able to swim. She had a blast and I watched her sneaky ways of trying to get to jump in a third time! After swim, I stopped at a gas station and tried to fill up my nearly empty tank. My credit card was denied ('authorization failed'). I was a bit frustrated, but assumed it was a connection issue at the gas station and went on my way. Nora said she had to go potty, so we stopped at Target. Of course, once we got in, she no longer had to go - until we were at the other end of the shop. Then she had to go. Anyway, we ran back to the restrooms, and both kids went, washed hands and we were back on our way. Beth asked for a snack, so we did a little shopping and then got in line. My credit card was refused at Target as well! The cashier mentioned that a lot of people with similar cards had recently faced the same problem and she offered to suspend the sale so I could call and see what was going on. After 15 minute on the phone, I finally go through to a person! They informed me that there was a potential security breach and the card had been de-activated and a new card was sent out. Very nice of them to tell us this was happening! They offered to put in a temporary authorization so that I could make the purchase, but by that time, the kids were climbing in and out of the cart and making a scene, so I declined and left with nothing, except for tired, hungry kids! I had barely enough gas to get home and was pretty upset at this point. We walked back to the car and went home. When we got home, I noticed that Beth only had 1 shoe on! She was wearing her Keen sandals, which are really the only good shoes we have that still fit her. I searched the car to no avail. Nora said she didn't see the shoe once she was buckled into the car. So, we went inside and I tried to get the kids fed and call both the credit card company and Target. Of course, the kids were cranky and doing all sorts of things they aren't supposed to - turning the A/C on and climbing into the window, for example. Then Beth bit Nora while they were fighting over who got to be the 'cooker' in the play kitchen. I told Beth she needed to spend a few minutes in her room for biting her sister and Beth stormed off screaming and then promptly fell asleep. She slept for just under an hour and woke up in an awful mood. I changed her diaper and offered her some snacks, cuddles and stories, but she never calmed down. I then asked if she just needed to go back to bed and she once again stormed off (saying yesssss) to her room. A few minutes later and she was asleep once again. She woke 40 minutes later and was still pretty cranky. Once I finally got her calmed down, the mail had arrived. Amazingly enough, the new credit cards had appeared! I activated the new card and gave the kids a snack. Off we went to the gas station. What a relief it was when I was able to fill the tank! Then we went to Target and I was able to find the shoe, still in the parking lot. I was starting to feel better when I realized that while I had my car keys I did not have my house keys! At that point, I just laughed out loud. What else could I do. It was raining and we were not going to be able to get into the house until Andy got home from work. So, we went into Target and walked around for a bit. Shortly after Andy called to let me know he was heading home, we left.

It was once thing after another all day. I'm glad that now I'm able to just smile and realize that days like today just happen. I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day!