Would This Stress You Out?

The only thing I can say about today is that it didn't rain until after we got home.

You know, I really thought sending Ironflower and Lovebug to school in the afternoon (yes, we only have half day kindergarten around here, it's crazy) meant that our lives would be more relaxed this year. Boy, am I stupid.

We should have had plenty of time this morning. The flu shots were at 9:45 am. But before that I wanted to stop at the bank. And before that I had to pack enough food for lunch and for ChunkyMonkey's constant eating. And before that I had to an edit an article for my mom, which I should have done last night. We made it to the doctor's office on time and all the children calmed down quickly after their initial screams of pain. I was proud of them.

As we hit a nearby park I realized that we didn't have Ironflower's school bag. I changed my timeline so that we could swing by the house before Kindergarten. We played at the park for forty-five minutes, then we left because we had to pick up Lovebug's school bag from where it was being embroidered (at the preschool they are all give the same bag and then the bags are decorated at home with fancy stuff from the craft store. I've discovered that I have no knack for decorating bags, especially when said bags are practically beaten to death by preschoolers. The fancy embroidering that lasts all year is a bargain a $5 a bag, let me tell ya.)

But of course with 3 kids, one of them not yet 2, you can't just run into a store. Especially this store, which has its parking lot half a block a way. So I hauled the stroller and dragged the kids in, only to find out that the bag I dropped off on Tuesday was still not ready. So we went back to the car and I distributed more food before discovering that I had dropped my keys somewhere.

By the time I found them, it was time to race home, grab Ironflower's backpack and get her to school by noon. Then we drove to Lovebug's school to get him there by 12:15. Then we drove home so I could practically toss ChunkyMonkey into his crib for a nap. Then I may have worked. Or stared and drooled at the computer, I forget which.

At 2:20, things started up again. Woke ChunkyMonkey, changed his diaper and armed him with food and drink. Drove to Lovebug's school, where his teacher told me he'd cried over every transition and he began crying (very, very loudly) again as we started for the car. Raced to Ironflower's school and parked on the access road, which is SO not meant for 2 rows of parked cars. Dragged the boys to Ironflower's classroom door and then had to talk her out of playing on the playground. Because we also had to go to the grocery store and I knew I couldn't pull that off after another Lovebug set of tears (he did NOT want to go on the playground) and the 18 dangerous situations ChunkyMonkey would get into during the first 5 minutes.

The big kids were GREAT at the grocery store, which is why we now own 5 more Hot Wheels cars and 1 more Littlest Pet Shop animal. ChunkyMonkey was done after about 10 minutes, which is why I probably owe the store a dollar for all of the grapes he ate while we were shopping. But that seemed a lesser crime than the meltdown that I would have had if he hadn't calmed down. I'm pretty sure my screams would have driven customers away so I'm sure it all works out.

Now they are watching TV and I'm going to make something simple for dinner. Like crackers with peanut butter.