It's Just Another Manic...Wednesday?

The day started with me waking up a half hour before my son needed to get on the bus. Luckily he was already awake & making himself breakfast. But, he chose this morning to inform me that he needed to wear green, orange, and yellow for St. Patrick's Day. The green I get, but orange & yellow? Apparently, those are the colors of the gold that the leprechaun would give the children if they could catch him. OK.

So, we're running late as it is...and now I need to find an outfit consisting of green, yellow, and orange?

"What about just green Wyatt? That's the color most people wear on St. Patrick's."
Nope. Not good enough. He was more concerned about wearing the colors of the gold. After pulling just about every shirt out of his drawer we finally settled on an orange shirt with a dinosaur who had shades of yellow and green.

Whew. Crisis averted.

So, after getting Wyatt on the bus, I went back inside to finish getting myself and the other children ready for the day. Let me tell you, this day was just getting started!

I think I surrendered any bit of gracefulness I may have had when I became a mother. Now I am just a full-time klutz. I can't begin to tell you how often I have caught myself just in the knick of time before falling or tripping. The scariest is when this happens while carrying a child. But, I've been spared any major spills so far.

This morning, though, I was coming down the steps (OK - hurrying down the steps) and I stepped on a pair of scissors one of my boys left at the bottom. Somehow, this threw me so much off balance that I fell, twisting both my ankles beneath me. Fortunately, I was not carrying the baby.

And, let me tell you, it HURT! There was about a minute or so where I thought I may have actually broken both my ankles. And, in that minute, a million thoughts went through my mind. How would I get help? Would my children bring the phone to me? What in the world would I do if I broke both ankles? I wouldn't be able to walk! How would I care for my children?

As I sat there pondering my situation...in pain...my 5 year old was oblivious to the loud crash & cry I must have made and continued to watch TV. My two year old, however, came to me saying, 'Help. Mommy.', and tried to help me by offering me his hand so I could stand. "Mommy can't stand just yet honey" I said. But, bless his heart, he stayed there with me.

After the initial pain & shock subsided, I started to slowly move my legs & realized I was going to be OK. I tentatively stood up to see if I could put weight on my ankles. Good to go! If there is any lesson in this, I suppose it's that I need to hurry a little less and watch out for booby traps left by my children!

The other exciting part of our day was that Edison was due for his 5 year checkup...and final set of immunizations for Kindergarten. No big deal, right? Let me tell you a little about Edison. He can be a very compliant, easy-going child. But, visits to the doctor and dentist throw him into hysterics. It's not a fun thing even if I just had him with me. But, I would have his two younger brothers along.

I considered asking my husband to take him. But, I decided that I need for Edison to learn that he had to behave for mommy the same way he'd behave for daddy. So, off we went. There were some moments where I thought for sure he'd kick into a high-gear freakout. But, he actually did very well. We have an awesome pediatrician and she even coaxed a smile or two out of him.

I had promised Edison that if he cooperated at the doctor's office we would go to the Burger King with the indoor play area. (Yes. I sometimes bribe my children.) We had the play area mostly to ourselves when we got there. Edison & Charlie happily ate their kid's meals while Joseph slept. Ah. A few minutes of peace.

All in all it was a good trip. The boys got to work out some of their energy & I got to sit and enjoy watching my children play. At home it always feels like such a whirlwind that sometimes I forget to just stop and observe how adorable they are.

As we were leaving one of the women who was there with her grand-daughter asked me if my son has chicken pox. What? I wasn't even sure what she was talking about or why she asked me that. I was kind of distracted anyway as I was trying to get the boys ready to leave. I mentioned that he had a bug bite he'd been itching, but no, he didn't have chicken pox. "Oh." She said. "Well, it's been going around."

It wasn't until we were out of the door that I realized she must have been noticing the rash that Edison almost always has on the sides of his cheeks. He has a mild case of ecxema. I'm so used to seeing it that I don't even really think about it anymore. So, this woman probably thought I was one of 'those' moms who brings sick children to public places & then throws some lame excuse about what a bug bite or some such thing.

I don't know why this embarrassed me, but it did.

Anyway, on another note....It was 9 years ago today that my husband proposed to me. We were on a group mission trip to Juarez, Mexico at the time & he proposed the day we were to return home. He said something about wanting to take a walk before we left. I did wonder why we seemed to be wandering aimlessly on our walk (He was looking for just the right spot to pop the question). It wasn't until he was fumbling in his pocket trying to pull out the ring box that I realized what was going on.

I said yes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!