Random Real Life: Part VI

Anyone wondering how long I’m going to keep this up?!

Bed at 10:30ish last night. Up at 1:15 with Luke who wasn’t feeling well. Tooth hurting (please tell me there isn’t a root canal in my future!!), got Ibuprofen. Couldn’t go back to sleep. Lola up at 1:45, fed her. Finally back to sleep. Lola awake again at 4:30. Fell asleep feeding her. Crawled back in my own bed around 5:45. Both Luke and Lola awake at 6:30.

Tired, tooth hurting, throat sore (still!!), head congested (still!!), house a disaster (still!!), and lots of errands to run today (a Saturday) with four children. Russ was working in Salem. Sigh.

The boys have no sense of urgency. They hear ‘get your tasks done; we have to leave shortly’ as ‘please enjoy yourself; snails will be rewarded.’ They even knew there was the possibility of bread sticks at the mall, and still they goofed off. We dropped books off at the library--they lost the privilege of going in because of their unwillingness to do their tasks this morning.

We *finally* made it to Target. I looked down at Luke’s feet. No shoes. Levi had the brilliant idea that I should just buy him some more when we got in the store. I told Luke he was free to buy some with his own money. Levi told me it was my job as a parent to buy shoes for Luke. I told him I already bought Luke three pairs of flip flops. My obligation was fulfilled. It was Luke’s obligation to get them on his feet *before* we left home.

I told the boys that it was their responsibility to stay with me, not my responsibility to stay with them. We filled the cart with all the boring necessities of life (Benadryl, chocolate, wipes, dish soap, birthday cards, toothbrushes…) which always add up to a staggering amount of money. I saw two DARLING sundresses for Lola that I had to pass up. Leif and Levi wouldn’t stay with the cart no matter how many times I told them the rules. At the check-out Luke announced to the checker that he had poison oak and diarrhea. She made a noble attempt not to laugh at my expense. Luckily I know her, she has grandchildren, and she is always entertained by my crazy family. Luke was much more willing to part with his money for a pack of gum. Go figure.

There was wailing and gnashing of teeth when we didn’t get bread sticks. I told the boys that was the consequence of not following the rules. Luke complained that HE had. Only ‘cause you had no shoes and couldn’t get out of the cart, kid. No shoes=no walking through the mall. Sorry Charlie.

I knew better than to push my luck at Costco. I hoped to get back there after Lola’s afternoon nap, but it didn’t pan out. Lola and the boys are in bed, but Leif keeps getting up like usual. It is always a struggle to get him to sleep. I wonder if I’ll have the energy to ‘clean’ the house before heading to bed, myself…

And in other random news:

A blistering 72 degrees today. With blue skies, that is about perfect in my opinion.

Lola’s fingernails grow SO quickly and they are ridiculously sharp. I often look like I’ve been through WWIII. Why don’t MY fingernails grow that quickly?!

I’m mulling over the idea of finding a kids’ ballroom dancing class for the boys. Is that crazy?

Levi’s first swim meet tomorrow. Russ is competing, too!

And now I shall ‘clean’ the kitchen, which is a very different thing from cleaning the kitchen.