When you are a mom of boys everyday life is filled with super heros, swords, toads, farting noises, and other grossnesses too terrible to mention. I am amazed daily by the new "matieral" of conversation between my boys and how they have somehow managed to begin the training of their baby brother. Laeth has become quite the big boy with an attitude and personality to match. The days of doing things for him are coming to an end quickly as he wants to do everything by himself just like his big brothers. Lately it has been refusing to sit in his seat at the dinner table in favor of trying to bogart either Dave or my seat when one of us gets up. He is cute which most days is his saving grace and the fact that he is the baby...
All of this would lead me to the brink of losing my mind this past week as Dave left for three days and I was in piloting this parenting voyage solo for the first time since school started.
Wednesday morning I felt up to the challenge...Friday night I was begging for mercy, a glass of wine, and a handful of Advil. Don't get me wrong the boys were not THAT bad, just the combo of chaos that ensued made me thankful that it was only a temporary thing.
Wednesday was supposed to be easy, pick the boys up after school and then home...oh wait there was swimming lessons, no big deal...oh and then Kale's fundraiser pickup for school and you had to go into school to pick it up....oh and it snowed that yucky snow that really isn't snow but more like slushy rain, and Laeth has taken to hating anything to do with his carseat and lets just say it's gonna be a long winter with the apparel required and the Laeth man. Thank the heavens for the nice PTA dad that lugged all of the boxes out to my car as my sweet child with horns decided to pull anything he could get his chubby little hands on off and chuck it in the snow....not even 12hrs into this solo thing and I could tell it was gonna be a long 72. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a morning person, so when Thursday morning rolled around and I had to get Kale to school by 8:15, Barett to preschool by 8:30 and the alarm didn't phase me until 8:00...we were in some deep business. Lunch packed the night before(thank God !!), Kale couldn't find his book for library day, Barett lost a shoe, and Laeth refused to keep his socks on...GREAT! So needless to say we were late...something I HATE....I got over it long enough to shop, do some 4 loads of laundry and wrangle up some "fun" dinner. After school we ran a few errands and the boys were over the moon since Friday was teacher in-service day...I now know why parents world wide dread these days...I made an executive decision that night to let them take an extra hour before bedtime 9pm seemed reasonable for bed. In our house the bedtime routine we call the "B's"... Bath, Brush your teeth, Books, and Bed. Most nights it is pretty easy and well respected...that night didn't go so well. After aking, telling, pleading with them to go to bed for atleast 20min and settling into the couch to watch a movie(they had been quiet) Kale broke my peaceful lounging with a scream of terror and panic I have never heard out of any of my children..."MOM COME QUICK HURRY, BARETTTTTTT THERE IS BLOOD EVERYWHERE!!!!"
I am pretty sure I made it up the stairs in 2 long strides to find Barett clutching his mouth with both hands and blood streaming between his fingers, white as a ghost straring at his hands, Kale hysterically crying, and believe or not, not a drop of blood on anyone's pajamas or the floor. OK so the nurse in me went to work...Kale to his room, Barett to the bathroom to figure out the source of this blood letting. I will spare you all the details as it left me amazed at my stomach strength. The short of it is that somehow in his "playing so mom can't hear me" antics he managed to make himself a blow hole in his chin. Thankfully all is teeth remained in place. After a quick call to our personal doctor on call 24-7(grandpa) I was relieved to find a trip to the ER and plastic surgeon would not be necessary(this time). Thank God because had I needed to wake Laeth up there may have been some alternate blood shed. Well after that little "ordeal" Barett insisted he needed Daddy.. GREAT!!,.of course, why not!? I have no way to get ahold of him, not to mention that previous to this I had prided myself on my 100% injury free single parenting.(Kale split his head 2x on Dave's watch and Barett lost that tooth while I was in Colorado) After some mommy TLC, packing with gauze, and a slowing of the blood loss he finally calmed long enough to let me lay him down in our bed with a towel on the pillow. I thought Kale had gone to sleep, however when I went upstairs to check on Barett, I found them both alseep with Kale spooning his little brother...it melted my heart.
Friday morning everyone was bright eyed , Kale at 4am, not my idea of sleeping in on a NO SCHOOL day. "OK", I told myslef, "Dave will be home in less than 24hrs, just get through today with no new holes in any of the boys". We ran some morning errands and then landed at my parents for a solid 6hrs, wound up isn't so bad with grandparents to disperse the energy. They eventually laid down for naps and I crashed for an hour on a comfy old and familiar couch. Funny how I felt like I was in highschool again, though I don't remember 2 a day swim practice kicking my arse as bad as parenting boys. Dave came home late afternoon and I had to eat humble pie and acknowledge the tarnish to my record....an OK tradeoff to having to put them to bed, it was a DADDY night, mommy was off the clock for atleast 2hrs;0)
I love my boys but the teenage years to come ...I feel Barett may be bionic by then...
