The Puddles

I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Is it that time of the year?  Have the weather patterns suddenly shifted over the last few days?   Have I walked into a parallel universe?

I think that the answer is “yes.”  Life around me seems to be out of whack. A lot of people in my world seem edgy, stressed, and just not their usual selves.  This is soooo frustrating. This yuck keeps creeping into my little world in small and minute ways.

Time to puts the brakes on it though.  We’ve got enough to deal with, without letting the rest of this ick filter into our world.

Play with it of course!

This has been a submarine (see the periscope hole in one of the pictures), a jail, a library table, a hiding place, art studio, house, and much more.  Isn’t it amazing how far their imagination will go with just a box?  Ben and Ainsley are in the box begging me to not throw it out, but at some point . . . the best things have to go.  Don’t worry. After four months, it was time to let the box go and move onto something else.  And sure enough . . . they did.  Tonight we played “The Puddle Cafe.”

Staying up until 1:30 to get stains out of white baseball pants was probably not my finest move.(But I did manage to get the stains to a lighter shade.) As tired as I was, I still managed to have us all dressed and ready to leave at 7:30.  As soon as Aunt Debra arrived (she helped to get Ben to his game), we left to go to opposite sides of town to get Madie to soccer by 7:45am and Ben to baseball at 8:00.  We even had team snacks for baseball today.  I was a little impressed with myself that I had all team uniform laid out on the table, two snack bags packed, and one set of team snacks ready to go on time.  I think I was running on adrenaline.

Games were successfully played under a cloudy sky so there was no repeat of last week sunburn (only Mom, I remembered to spray the kids). Madie’s team lost again (they haven’t won any so far).  Madie struggled with soccer (the whole hand/eye coordination is not her thing).  Ben loves baseball and has shown some good promise this year.  I think Ben won his game, but frankly I couldn’t tell. Ben just cares whether he hit the ball or not and did he make it base.  We joined Aunt Debra after Madie’s game was over.  Ainsley managed to pitch several fits while at the soccer game, so I was glad to leave that field and move on to another one.  Debra said he kept her awake the whole way to the game, because he never stopped talking!  The stories that she heard!!

After the games were over, we picked up Ben’s medicine and a present for a birthday party later today.  What do you get for a third grader?  After the Barbie phase of toys, I don’t know what to get. Madie found something quickly and we went home.  Ben and I vegged out on the couch (he watched the cartoon Spider Man on Netflicks and I dozed off).  The girls went to the playroom to watch their own show.  We needed the downtime. Or let’s face it . . . I needed it.  Then onto the next activity, a birthday party on the other side of town.  Home again. Then to pick up Madie and her friend to take home from the party.  Then a delightful conversation with her parents (they have a new baby and both of their children are in Ainsley and Madie’s class). Onto home, clean the house (well. . . some picking up anyways), dinner, baths, prepare for tomorrow, and bed.

Long day. There seems no end. Church tomorrow, school the next day, and on and on.  We are getting a little more prepared for summer.  We picked out our summer bridging books at the school supply store on Friday.  The kids like them, so hopefully this will motivate them to do them.  I bought lots of books to read this summer.  Chris finally brought down my entire classroom library from the attic, so we have hundreds of chapter books that we can ready over the summer now.  I am closer to being ready.  I’ve got my own countdown calendar to D-day, and hopefully I’ll be ready for it.

The world is changing.  Human interaction is changing.  So, I’m trying to be “hip”, “with it”, “cool” (these words alone are outdated).  But I just don’t know what to think of the latest development in the world of children’s birthday parties. Ainsley received a birthday invitation last week that included a note stating that the child’s birthday list was registered at “Toys R Us.” Seriously?  I’m still mulling over in my head whether or not this is a good thing.  My initial reaction is not good. But maybe I’m old and this is appropriate in today’s culture.  Either way I’m a wimp.  I will go to the correct store and buy the correct gift.  After all the child is six . . . she didn’t fill out the invitation, but I’m sure she helped to pick out the gift list.

Me vs. Dirty Baseball Pants.  It has been hours.  Two bleach cycles through the washing machine.  Pre-treatments. Soaking the pants in bleach for hours in the kitchen sink.  And all I’ve accomplished is a slight fade.  What is in this dirt?!  The pants look horrible.  Stains on the bottom, knees, and everywhere!  I’m sure the other mom’s on the team are saying, “Does she even wash Ben’s pants each week?”  Then they shake their head and look at Ben with a sad look, feeling sorry for the boy who is so neglected.

Since it is 12:30am, I am calling it quits after this cycle. The other moms will just have to stare.

No, I’m not talking about the end of the world (Madie is already scared about that one. I’ve got to learn to turn off the news when the kids get home.).  I’m talking about the end of the school year.  I’m dreading it.  Right now there is peace in the house from 8:00am until 3:00am.  I kind of like that.  They are with me the entire rest of the time.  Dad is home a couple of nights a week and we all get to share in a meal together.  But most of the time, we are all just plain busy.  The kids are at the age where they are bored easily when kept within these four walls for great periods of time. And I can’t generally keep the neighborhood kids out of my house or the desire of my children to not want to go outside and play with the neighbors.  It is a constant battle to keep the kids entertained and not arguing. I’ve got some things planned for the summer, but not too much because Ben can’t be in the heat and I have to work from home.  I’m sure that this is a dilemma faced by many mothers, but my sanity may be the sacrifice to make this dilemma work.  I think the key to this will be preparation.  If I can prepare enough things for them to do, if I can get the playroom organized for more play, if I can set up a good schedule and most importantly, if I stick to it all, I think I will survive.

I walked down the stairs this evening to the tune of all three of my children in tears.  No kidding.  All three.

Madie is upset with me because, “I just wish that you would just let me do what ever I want to do.  Why can’t I make all of the decisions? ”

Ben is upset because, “Every thing is changing.  We are taking down the posters in my classroom.  I’m not going to see my friends any more. I’m not going to get to read with Mrs. Horton anymore. There is a countdown calendar.  Today we are at 8 days. Tomorrow . . . 7.  I don’t want to count down the days.  It just makes me sad.”

Ainsley is upset because, “I gave Daddy my cheetah to take with him, so he wouldn’t be lonely, but now I’m lonely.  I wish I didn’t do that.  I miss my CHEEEETAH! ”

These tears went on for about 20 minutes, until they all eventually cried themselves to sleep.  Now I’m so tired that I think I’ll go cry myself to sleep next.

Ben saw his hypertensive doctor this Monday.  This was our last visit with Dr. Feig.  He is moving to Alabama to move up the career ladder.  Good move for him, but we are just getting to know him.  So we are sadden by this.

The good news is that he gave us an explanation for Ben’s high blood pressure.  Here is the dilemma . . . when Dr. Feig explained it in the visit, I understood what he said.  When I came home and attempted to explain it to my mom, it didn’t turn out good.

I think the laymen’s version is this . . . At some point (probably when he had a subaortic membrane the last time) Ben had sustained high blood pressure causing some thickening in the vessels in his kidneys. This thickening is what is triggering his current high blood pressure.  In time (like years) Ben’s body will heal itself as long as we maintain good bp’s with medication.

The doctor thinks that Ben only needs one of his two drugs to do this, so we are trying to wean Ben off his Atenelol this week.  I have high hopes!  It has been a year since we last tried to wean Ben.  That didn’t go so well, but it has been a year now!!  I’m sure he is ready.

Madie has two of her friends over tonight. Ben and Daddy are  spending the night on the Battleship Texas, so it is just us girls.

After swimming, pizza, and fun, the girls went to hang out in Madie’s room.  When I walk up later, all three are sitting there with their laptops and talking while they play together on the web.  Half an hour later . . . the girls are singing and making their own music on Garage Band.  Half an hour later . . . they are now incorporating video into their music.

I am officially old.  This is not what I did at sleepovers.

Feb. 26 – Crazy day but perfect.  The entire troop showed up.  Thank goodness Grandma Grace was there.  She was a huge help.  25 girls and their moms cooking meals over two fires . . . made for a busy day.  Everyone had a good time.  We even enjoyed “musical fruit.” One of my favorite camp treats growing up. Grandma brought the candy and I brought the oranges.  It was great.  We all can’t wait to do it again.