Long Weekends: Blessing or Curse?

It's amazing how much a long weekend can disrupt an otherwise mostly-well-oiled routine. I mean, it's just one measly extra day, right?

For example: This weekend was a long weekend. We got an extra day because of the Labor Day holiday, so both kids were off school, and both hubby and I were off work. On this day, we were also invited to spend time with some dear friends of ours who recently got a small watercraft. Yes, I shall even call it a boat, as it is one. With some planning, we met said friends at the local boat ramp and, after a few false starts, managed to be on the water by about 11:00 a.m.

We enjoyed a lovely four solid hours buzzing around on the lake, towing the kiddos behind on a floaty-thing and reveling in their smiles and shrieks of laughter, and generally enjoying the day. Eventually, the aboard-boat snacks couldn't hold back the hunger, so we returned to the boat ramp, replaced the small craft upon its trailer, and headed to a restaurant where we proceeded to eat. A lot.

Fast forward to the next morning.

Kids slow to rise and get moving, so the proverbial Cattle Prods were removed from their safe spot and used liberally. (You do understand, we don't own cattle prods, right?) We left the house about 10 minutes later than usual only to find out that Boy-child had left his lunch box at school on Friday. When I asked him where his lunch was, he said, "In my backpack." I don't even want to know what he did, or did not, pack for lunch. I asked him where his trumpet was (he has band every day!), to which he responded, "Uh....I really don't know." REALLY!? Come on, kid! We called hubby, who said he'd bring it to the school later.

Girl-child, too, forgot her instrument (a viola) and called hubby to beg him to bring it to her.

Both kiddos forgot to brush their teeth, so we made them both go back inside and do that before they left the house. Which, I realize, added to our lateness, but tooth care is important!

Both kids were lethargic and quiet.

Both kids made mention of needing at least six more hours of sleep.

Both kids are going to have to deal with it and get through their respective days.

Welcome to adulthood, boys and girls.

For my part, I went to bed early-ish, got up as usual, got through my routine as usual, didn't forget anything, and, aside from being a bit later in arriving to work than I might prefer, I was still on time. This, friends and neighbors, comes from years and years of experience.

And...telling myself to "Do it anyway."

Even when I don't wanna.

TTFN
JMS

PS: I wish the kids would buy into my mantra!

Girl-child Drama

Oh. My. Golly. Golly. Goshness! (That’s my polite way of saying it’s been an amazingly hectic weekend.)

Friday night, both kiddos spent the night at their friends’ house.  (Same house.  Same friends.  Brother friends with brother.  Sister friends with sister.  It works out because they all get along so well and because the friends have brave, amazing parents.)  Anyway – sleepover night.

Saturday night, girl-child attended a sleepover birthday party with five girls. 

Sunday arrived.  Mom of sleepover party birthday girl brings girl-child to church and I can tell from the second I see girl-child that she’s not just tired, she’s TIRED!  Purple-circles-under-her-eyes-and-pale-skin-tired.  This isn’t the mom’s fault; far from it.  But when you get five 8 and 9 year old girls in one place for a sleepover, giggling ensues and little actual sleep happens.

Anyway, girl-child makes it through Sunday school and now we’re about 15-20 minutes into actual church service when (pardon me) all Hell breaks loose.

I was multi-tasking, which, truth be told, I shouldn't have been doing during church service, but I was trying to coordinate boy-child who had lucked out and was able to stay another night at the first friend’s house and so wasn't at church with us.  Friends were trying to figure out swimming at the fitness center but realized they’d need a parent to sign him in.  Hubby and I were both in church, so I was trying to politely ask if they could wait until we were done.  Meanwhile, girl-child had read two words of the text: “brother” and “swimming” and had an absolute meltdown.  Red-faced, crocodile tears, “brother always gets to do all the fun stuff and I don’t!”  No amount of consolation or hushing worked so I resorted to removing her from the situation.

Luckily, hubby and I drove in separately this morning so I was able to take girl-child home. 

When we got home, girl-child went directly to bed.  She did not pass “Go.”  She did not collect $200.00.  She slept for two solid hours.  When she woke up (on her own) she was immediately provided with a snack and some juice to tide her over until lunch could be had.

Then, for the rest of the day, a wonderful afternoon at the very-crowded park, and dinner with friends, she was perfectly fine.  Until we hit about 6:45 PM when TIRED reared its ugly head again and she wanted to go home.  “Mom, I’ve just really had a rough day.  I think I need to go home.” 

Now, she is soaking in a warm bath (with her hair piled on top of her head so it won’t get wet), playing with her bath toys (a beluga whale from Mystic Seaport and a black horse that has hair and spots that change color in warm water), sipping on a cold Perrier (“Mom! Can I have a drink, please?  I’m really thirsty!”), she’s happy.  Not “singing” happy, but happy.

Good thing this upcoming week is Spring Break or tomorrow might be a difficult school day.

TTFN

JMS

Yup...I know the feeling

http://www.laughtard.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/I-cant-adult-today.jpg

That elusive thing called Sleep

As most of you probably have figured out, I love sleep just about as much as I love coffee.  Sleep, however, is becoming more and more elusive for me and I must say: I really don’t like it.  (Hubby would probably be making comments here right now about snoring and stealing covers, but he rarely reads my blog so, whatever.  It’s funny, the person I most want to read my blog…doesn’t.  I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t care, he just doesn’t want to take the time to read all these words.  It is the same with when I’m telling him something face to face; there comes a point in any conversation where I can see he’s tuned me out and isn’t really listening anymore.  It’s OK.  I’m pretty sure it’s a guy thing.)

Anyway – back to sleep.  Or, more accurately, the lack of it.

So the other night it was about 11:30 and I had put away Netflix for the evening because I felt it was in my best interest to attempt a few hours of sleep in order to be fully prepared for work the next day.  (This would have been Sunday night, I believe.)  Here’s how that went:

Flop.

                                Shift.

                                                                Flop again.

                                                                                                Sigh.

Hm…I’ve never noticed that red light before, I wonder what that is...?

                Flop.  Sigh.

                                What time is it?

                11:40 PM.

                                                Sit up.  Pound pillow in frustration.  Adjust, adjust.  Sigh.

Blink, blink.  That street light is awfully bright.  I really need to get some black out curtains.

                Hm…I wonder what time it is?

                                                11:45 PM.

Crap.  Am I gonna do this all night?

Flop.  Adjust, adjust.  I think I might need a snack.

                                No, you don’t need a snack, dummy!  It’s almost midnight and you’re counting calories.

But…please?

                NO!  Stay where you are…I’m warning you!

                                But…can’t I just go look in the fridge?

Oh, for heaven’s sake!

                                                FLOP!  SIGH!  POUND POUND!  Crap!  Did I just wake up hubby?

This, essentially, went on in a similar form or fashion until about 2:30 AM when my exhausted brain and body finally gave in to that elusive thing called sleep.  I woke at 5:15 AM to take my thyroid medicine (as I always do), fully expecting to sleep another 30-45 minutes (as I always do) but NO-OOO!  I was awake now.  Not as in simply not asleep anymore.  I was A-W-A-K-E!

Dammit.

OK. 

So, going back to the Netflix thing.  It seems to be that the more occupied my brain is with other things the less likely I am to sleep.  I try to numb my brain into submission by occupying it with something else, like reading (which doesn’t work as well as it used to) or, now, Netflix or Amazon Prime movies and TV shows.  If I’m watching a movie, I choose something I’ve seen so that I might grow bored earlier and drift off to the Land of Nod without missing something exciting, or, at the very least interesting.  If I’m watching a TV show, it’s harder because if the show is good, I want to binge watch and immediately move right on to the next episode, and the next, and the next, and before I know it it’s nearly midnight…again.

Reading used to help a lot.  I’d get into a book and, regardless of how good the book was, I’d eventually get to a point where I realized I was reading the same sentence over and over and over again.  I’m off reading right now, though.  I haven’t found anything lately that piques my interest and I don’t want to re-read any of my old standbys.  I guess I’m in a Reading Rut.

I know there are a bazillion tricks that people all over the world have to help one sleep.  Counting sheep, sleeping on your left side instead of your right, changing your pillow, adding a pillow, removing a pillow, turning down the house temperature, meditating (something I’ve NEVER been good at, though I’ve tried hundreds of times), warm milk (ick), warm bath…  The list goes on and on.

Counting sheep bores me.  I already sleep on my left side.  I switch out my pillow situation about every other night.  Hubby keeps the house temp at 67° at night anyway, which is either too cold, or too warm.  And that’s another thing, I’m usually TOO WARM.  But if I kick off the covers, then I’m too cold.  If I cover up, and kick one foot/leg out that helps, but then when I turn over I get all woozled (yes, woozled) up and I have to start all over again.

I won’t bore you with more.  I’m sure, if you’re human (and possibly a female human in her forties) you’ve been through this.  I envy those who can put their head on a pillow and be out like a light in about thirty seconds (ahem…girl-child!).  My friend, Scoop, can put his head down, be asleep in about thirty seconds, sleep hard for like five minutes, and wake up completely refreshed and ready to go.  I’ve never understood folks like that.

Anyway – wish me luck.  This time, it’s been about a week since I’ve slept through the night.  Not taking into account the night when I took some cold medicine and was down for the count.  That’s medicated sleep, which I do not recommend as a viable alternative to the real thing.

TTFN

JMS

Writing in the present, reading about the past

For those of you who don’t know, I tend write these posts a day or two ahead of time.  I love the schedule option afforded to me by Blogger.  For example, as I write this, it is Thursday evening, the twelfth of February, 2015.  I am currently sitting in bed feeling quite pleased with myself at having made a pair of navy blue hand/wrist/arm warmers out of a very well-loved but much too small pair of girl-child’s old tights.  I’m crafty like that.  I just grabbed the pair of super-sharp scissors out of my bedside table drawer and after 6 snips – TA DA! – comfy warm things I can wear while I type.  My fingers are still kinda cold, but I’m toasty warm up to my elbows!  Go me.

Anyway, I just spent the evening with girl-child.  She started out kinda grumpy but pretty soon managed to dig down deep and find her happy.  We took a trip to the Greens of Wal and purchased some super-groovy Valentine’s Day cards for her classmates.  Then, at home, she spent a very happy 30-40 minutes filling out the cards and making a special one for her teacher.  There was even humming involved.  Humming usually means relaxed and content girl-child.  Humming is a good sign.  You don't want to interrupt the humming girl-child or relaxed and content may be in jeopardy.

After that, she and I played a few rounds of 4 Pics 1 Word.  She’s super good at that game and tends to be a lot faster than I am.  Then boy-child came home with Hubby and, though he came and joined us for a few minutes, he sorta broke the moment.  Not that I wasn’t happy to see him – he’s a goober and I adore him – but girl-child and I were doing fine without him and boy-child is nothing if not competitive.  I’m sure you can see the problem.  There began the pushy-shovey-my-turns and I finally had to call the game and kick them both outta the room.  Sheesh!

It took absolutely ages to get everyone in jammies with teeth brushed and tucked in bed with kisses and hugs and dream-lites making blue star patterns on ceilings.  But now that young'uns are settled and I am able to settle a little bit, too – I realize that I am bone tired and my brain is mush.  I am more scattered than usual.  (Probably the reason for this very poorly written, all over the place post.  Sorry.)  

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow night, which is actually Friday, because remember, you're probably reading this on Saturday so tomorrow night as I type is actually last night when you’ll be reading this.

Confused yet?  So am I.

I think I need to go to bed.

TTFN

JMS

Mornings in days of yore

You know how they say never to blog, post on social media, do anything or say anything about work because you run the risk of putting your job in jeopardy should someone take offense to something you’ve said or done?  This post isn’t that, I promise, but it does have to do with the fact that I have a job and how my current job has changed my home life for the better.  

A little over seven months ago I accepted a new job.  Taking into account my opening paragraph, I won’t talk about where I work or what I do at work except to say what you already know, I’m an administrative assistant.  I do that.  I love my job for lot of reasons, I truly do, but there’s one reason that overshadows all the others.  Since taking this job, I have been able to see my kiddos every morning.  This is something that has really never been possible before, either because of timing or because of distance.  I am absolutely so grateful for the close proximity of my new job and the fact that the time I start allows me to spend a little bit of time with my babies.

In days of yore, I was gone before they woke up.  At work before the sun even considered rising above the horizon.  Now, not only can I get a shower in the morning, I can help wake up my sleepy-headed girl-child.  Maybe help her figure out what to wear; help her get dressed. She requires a very steady hand, a gentle voice and lots of coaxing to rouse her from her slumber.  She does not like to get up and will do everything in her power to delay putting feet to floor.  And even with all the gentle coaxing, tickles, smiles and kisses in the hopes that she’ll smile and wrap her warm little arms around your neck, some days, it doesn’t matter one whit and she’s just gonna be a grump and everything is going to be wrong with her world.

I can talk about stuff with my always-ready-to-go-up-at-the-BCOD boy-child. He tends to be awake already when my alarm goes off and by the time I get out of the shower, he is happy and bouncy and full of it (you know when I mean).  He’s pretty self-sufficient but usually it’s when he’s trying to get dressed that he can’t find a pair of socks or he (in his mind) doesn’t have any clean jeans/t-shirts to wear or can’t find something he needs for school.  He’s kind of scatterbrained in that way, even though he’s so smart it’s scary.  Unfortunately, I think he gets the scatterbrain from his mom.  But he’s the complete and total opposite of his little sister.  She requires finesse.  He doesn’t.

They’re old enough now that they can get their own cereal, pour their own milk, and get their own spoons.  But I get to witness the fact that they’re eating a healthy breakfast.  I can help get them ready for the day.  I can spend time with them.  This is something that I’ve never had before.

Then, when I’ve got my jacket on and I’m pulling my keys out of my purse…all part of my new routine…my kiddos have started a routine, too.  They come away from the table where they’re munching on cereal to hug me – each in turn – and then, when I go into the kitchen to collect my lunch box (hubby packs my lunch, bless him) and kiss hubby on the cheek, I head to the front hallway on my way out of the house and find both kiddos, lined up in front of the door expecting more hugs.  It’s awesome.

Though I’m definitely not a morning person (my girl-child probably gets her intense dislike of mornings from me), I must admit mornings have become my favorite part of the day.

TTFN
JMS

Patience vs. Will Power vs. Caffiene

• For all those times when all you want to do is stay snuggled, safe and warm, in your bed and ignore your alarm clock because it’s cold or rainy outside and really, what’s your motivation?  
• For all the times you say “no” to your alarm clock.  Or the dog who has to go outside to pee.  Or to your own bladder, for that matter (ha!  How clever am I?)  Or the child who got up at the BCOD.
• For all those times you say to yourself just five more minutes and then those five minutes turn into ten, then twenty and now, suddenly, you’re going to be late. 
• For all those times that you think I really don’t need a shower (yes, you really do, I promise) so you use the time you would have taken up by showering to catch a few more minutes of shut-eye. 
• For all those times when you’re allergy-ridden and therefore you resort to a full dose of medication like Benadryl or Zyrtec and then the next morning (and possibly well into the next afternoon) you are decidedly zombie-like.
• For all those times when you’re sitting at your desk trying desperately to focus on the task at hand but your chin somehow keeps winding up in your hand and you continually find your head inching closer and closer to a full face-plant on the keyboard.  (Just imagine the pretty, lettered impressions on your cheek.)
• For all those times when it takes everything in your power not to shove your chair back, kick your feet up on the nearest elevated surface, lean as far back as your chair will allow and just close your eyes for two minutes all the while knowing if that actually happens there will be a full-on Drool & Snore Fest.

TTFN
JMS