Yesterday I Was "Nowhere Near It"

It's not even 7:30 and our house is already in full swing. James was off to work at 4am and the girls are getting showered and ready to head to the "Back to School Party" at our little POA. There are things I both love and hate about living in a little town. The little events our neighborhood hosts for the kids around here is one of those things that I love. It's never anything fancy, but it gives the kids a chance to feel independent. They get to hop on their bikes and leave the parental units behind as they had off for a couple of authority free hours (save the community volunteers) and just hang out with their friends. Best of all... Mommy gets a break on Saturday morning.

I didn't bother posting yesterday because I was down right crabby. James has been taking Nyquil to try and smoother the cold he caught from the kids last weekend and it makes sleeping in the same bed as him rather unpleasant. For starters, it makes him sweat like a leaking faucet. For the past few nights I've been waking up moist. My skin feels like I just ran through the mist of a sprinkler and not in a good way. I've also been kicked, elbowed, had the covers stolen, and my side of the bed has constantly been invaded by his wayward legs. He's also started talking in his sleep. I've always loved that he's hardworking and dedicated to his job. But this man is literally dreaming of work.

My serious lack of sleep set the stage for a "I'm not taking your sh*t today!" attitude at work. I'd posted before about a co-worker of mine and her tendency to get, shall we say, sassy with me. In all truth, personally speaking, I like her. I think that we could be great friends outside of work. Professionally speaking however, it can be a little like oil and water. If you shake the bottle, we'll mix. It's the perfect cocktail for cooking up some really productive ideas and actions for our marketing. But, after a little while goes by, we settle and separate. It was really rocky a couple months ago when our manager made the decision to put me in charge of the marketing department. I never wanted her job, but I got it. Even through all of the resistance I got, I think we make a damn good team. Last month was the first month since I've been with the company that all 7 of our stores beat last year's number at the same time. We've always had one or two each month, but never all of them. We really over hauled all of our traditional marketing. I won't take all the credit for it though. We did it together. We got side by side in the trenches and poured our hearts into it full speed ahead. Yesterday however, she pulled a 180 on me and it just wasn't the right day to throw a tantrum. I simply didn't have the patience. At the end of the day, it's my butt on the line and her withholding important information about the projects we have in the works just isn't going to fly.

By the time I left work I was completely in defense mode. We have a birthday lunch today for Jame's brother at his parents' house and we were put in charge of making the homemade bread. I told him Tuesday when he mentioned it that we only have one bread pan, to which he responded "Okay." Then as I'm driving home last night he tells me that I need to get two more bread pans because we need three loaves for today. Poor guy, I chomped his head off. I work right near Bed Bath & Beyond (and I'm my sister's shopping buddy so I get to use the 20% employee discount) and was fuming that he didn't tell me this while I was actually near the store so I didn't have to make an extra trip. This leads back around to one of things I hate about living in a little town. We're a good half hour away from everything. There's no quick trips to the store. It's a big part of the reason we'll be moving next summer. But I'm getting off topic here... All I wanted to do yesterday was go home, put on my jammie pants, be lazy, and decompress. Nope, no such luck. However, on a normal day, I would just have said "no problem hunnie, you get the girls and Lena and I will handle the bread pans." Instead I chastised him for it because he "should have mentioned this Tuesday when I brought it up!"

I did get the bread pans. I did "accidentally" stop at the mall for some retail therapy and get a new pair of jeans that I was desperate need of. Most importantly though... I did end up apologizing for being a GIANT Sebastian. Thank goodness that man loves me through thick and thin. I'm grateful for him every day and I don't know what I'd do without him. He's my rock in all the chaos that comes with the everyday life of a working mom.

Parade and a Meltdown

The day started out wonderful. We got up this morning, had our coffee in peace while the children slept on. Then proceeded to go to the parade.

As I mentioned earlier, Lena and Anne have both been coughing this weekend. However, Lena has it way worse. She's stuck in that horrible in between phase right now where she's not big, but she's not little. Last time she got sick it was an argument getting her to take the liquid cough medicine. She wanted a pill because she's "not a baby anymore MOM!" 

So this time when I went to Walgreen's I grabbed her the liquid gels instead. Turns out that ended up being a knock down drag out fight today that I ended up losing in the end. She was terrified to swallow it. She kept insisting she was going to choke if she had to take it. Of course, this pissed me off. Those things certainly are not cheap and we're working on a limited income at the moment.

I certainly didn't put my best mommy foot forward because I ended up yelling at my scared sick little girl. What I should have done it just gone back up to Walgreen's right away and bought the liquid. What I should have done was comfort her when she wasn't feeling good. Instead, I tried to force her to take it. This only brought her to tears, made me look like a monster, and didn't end up helping her cough at all.

Thank goodness for James being my voice of reason. After a good half hour battle he pulled me out into the garage and told me what a grade A moron I was being. He reminded me that the point was to help make her feel better, not worse.

Total mom failure today on my part really. In all truth, I originally had the children's liquid in my hand because I already knew this could potentially happen. Silly me, I listened to my 10 year old and got what she wanted and not what I knew she needed. He ended up going into town, getting the liquid, and then I proceeded to lay on the couch with her for the last 3 hours watching movies and cuddling to make up for my previous lack of empathy. I guess I know better next time.

No Way to Win This One

What better way to spend a 3 day weekend than with two sick kids right? Here in Lowell, Labor Day weekend is the biggest celebration in town. Are we out enjoying all the festivities? Nope, of course not. I'm sitting around in a pair of workout pants (that haven't really seen any working out) and a t-shirt dusted in pancake mix instead.

Both Lena and Anne have been hacking their brains out for the last two days. I tried good old faithful Robitussin which basically just cut the wet hacking cough down to every 10 minutes instead of every 5. Oh goodie! I finally gave up hoping it would help about an hour ago and ran up to Walgreen's to get some Nyquil.

Last time Lena wasn't feeling good she complained that I had bought the liquid cough medicine because, let's face it, it tastes like crap. It's basically like sucking on an alcohol prep wipe with a hint of cherry to make it extra disgusting. With that in mind, I purchased the gel tabs, thinking that this would make her happy. Instead, it turned into a 20 minute long ordeal about how I was purposely trying to choke her. Seriously?

In the end, I cracked the capsule and put it in a cup of juice. She couldn't taste it, but she was still complaining that I put too much juice in the cup and I was going to make her throw up.

It would seem that there is no way to please a sick, cranky kid. Go figure!