I Don't Think I'm Up For This.....

Damn but Sunday was a shitty day.  I don't know why.  Letdown from David Olney?  Anxiety before school starting?  Damned if I know.  The morning was pretty peaceful, reading the paper and eating Ernie's Sunday biscuits (although he burned one batch first which is UNHEARD of...perhaps that was the jinx) until the alarm at my work went off and I had to go in.  But everything was fine and we came back and I fussed with pictures of the house concert.  Somewhere around midday (at one point Ernie yelled to Leo "what time is it" and he answered "it's midday."  When queried further he said it was noon.  Geesh.) I switched over to trying to get organized and spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to make to-do lists and find a template for meal planning.  What the hell am I thinking?  Like I'll ever USE it.  I tried though.  Although....I swear to God....do people really schedule different breakfasts for every day and two snacks for each afternoon?  Who ARE these people?  I finally found something and deleted various columns  to make it more realistic.  After I did that Ernie and I went over what had to happen this week....OH and I totally left out the part of the day where I supervised my children packing their backpacks with the required school supplies and almost bloody KILLED them.  Anyway, so then Ernie took Leo to get a new bike lock and a new bike helmet (read BATTLE).  While they were gone I tried to go online and get them more time on their freaking tracfones.  It MUST be my problem but that site makes me INSANE.  I eventually tried to sign them up for a family value plan which I THOUGHT we were already signed up for but evidently from all the emails it is ending in FIVE DAYS FIVE DAYS FIVE DAYS.  However when it went through somehow only Leo's phone was credited so I tried deleting the whole thing to try again but it wouldn't LET me...I have to wait twenty four hours.  So then I got so irritated that I went to Verizon to just look up what it would cost to just get two smart phones like I want and switch the boys' phones over and it kept asking me for information I didn't know until it LOCKED me out. Then it asked me if I wanted to live chat so I said YES and then when I told them what was going on the said they couldn't help me.  THEN I wanted to punch the laptop just like Ernie did but for GOD'S sake that cost us $700 and the laptop isn't even WORTH that anymore so I controlled myself.  Then family members kept getting cross at each other and we all fell quiet for awhile.  I made the mistake of walking into the kitchen where Ernie was and asking him what was playing.  He said, "uh....Lucinda Williams?" and I said, "no it's not....it's Lucy Kaplansky."  He looked guilty and said he'd hoped I wouldn't hear.  My sister Judi adored Lucy Kaplansky and even though I'm better these days....I listen to John Hiatt for God's sake.....but  Judi had a lot of female musicians that she really loved...and I still find it hard to listen to them.  I should be over it...right?  It's been two years since she died oddly enough.  But somewhow I nodded pleasantly and then walked back to the living room and cried and cried.  I tried to be silent but I kept doing those "uh uh uh" breaths...so the boys came out and huddled around me and patted my back and told me it was o.k.  Unfortunately Ernie didn't get the message that everything was o.k. because the boys were being sweet instead of little jerks and so he was still cross and the whole thing went downhill from there.

Do the rest of you have days like this?

We attempted to get the boys to bed early-ish that night as Monday was the first day of school.  Only moderately successful.  We were ready to get the damn day over already so we went upstairs ourselves only to find Owen sobbing in his new bunkbed telling us he couldn't sleep.  I got him calmed down and went to bed.  The power still doesn't work in the bedroom but thus far, fortunately, the ceiling fan is somehow not part of that circuit or whatever and still worked which is necessary even when the a/c is on because it never really gets cool up there.  Last night?  The freaking ceiling fan stopped working.  It seems to WANT to so evidently it is mechanical and not electrical.  Then Owen started crying again.  We tried deep breaths.  I asked him why he was crying and he finally said because it was such a bad day.  Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you about the water stain we now have on our living room ceiling because somebody (read OWEN) spilled a glass of water while he was playing upstairs and didn't bother to wipe it up.  Anyway it took several round of deep breathing, calm down sessions which my beloved husband chose not be involved in.  I finally let Owen sleep with us for a bit (read HOT) until I kicked him out in the middle of the night.  The next morning he didn't seem to remember any of it.  In fact he had the temerity to say, "I slept great last night Mom.  After you calmed me down I was fine."  WHICH time I calmed you down was that OWEN?

So for whatever reason I was a bit frazzled at work yesterday.  Then Ernie calls me mid afternoon to tell me that as they were heading out to get Leo's gym shoes he needs for today that Owen fell and hit his head really hard and he's taking him to convenient care.  My maternal instincts kicked in and I said, "well you got the shoes first didn't you?"  No.  Sigh. 

Suffice to say Owen has a bump on his head and was able to milk the situation for all it was worth but is totally fine. 

Ernie and Leo did eventually get his gym shoes. 

However....

They tie. 

This is a problem. 

At an age appropriate time we tried to teach Leo how to tie his shoes.  He adamently refused.  He told us he didn't need to know how.  We countered.  No success.  He told us he would not be able to remember.  We countered again, pointing out the steel trap mind that could at that time name various train engines, their companies and the years they were made. We told him there were going to be times when he would NEED to know this.  He glowered at us and said, "give me ONE example."  None of them were convincing enough. Eventually we gave into the whole 'choose your battles' theory because believe you me there were plenty of other battles to focus upon....

So tonight we teach him how to ties his shoes.  For God's sake. 

Oh, and last night Owen woke us up again numerous times saying he couldn't sleep.  This morning he cheerfully said to me, "I wonder if I'm ready for bunkbeds."  I glared at him sleepily and he continued, "I think I am" and smiled. 

Oh, and at 7:20 there was another child (not ours) wandering our living room.

I just don't think I'm up for this.

Somehow this song by Tom Mason seems appropriate....