Nov. 7, 2009
Pecked to Death by Chickens
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I feel like I am being pecked to death by chickens. It isn't any one thing. Or even two or three. It is the great multitude of little things that build up and up and up. "Mom, can I have breakfast?" "Mom, can I eat candy?" "Mom, what's for dinner?" "Mom, is this problem right?" "Mom, do I have to do all these problems?" "Mom, do I have to clean up ALL the Legos?" "Mom, can I play on the computer?" "Mom, can I play video games?" "Mom, can we watch a movie?" "Mom, will you make me lunch?" "Mom" "Mom" "Mom" ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG! Yes, you can have breakfast. No, you can't have candy. Look at the schedule for dinner. Look at the solution manual for the problem. Yes, you must do all ten problems. Yes, you do need to clean up all the Legos. No, you can't play on the computer or the video games or watch a movie. You can make your own lunch. "Mom" "Mom" "Mom" This Mom is tired. Tired of dealing with the incessant questions of daily life. Tired of trying to make sure that everyone is adequately challenged. Tired of dealing with kids who have never dealt with being challenged. Tired of dealing with tears from kids who "got it wrong." Tired of dealing with teaching the need to practice. Tired of explaining what studying means. Tired of explaining that practice means THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND NOT MINDLESSLY RECOPYING THE PROBLEM! Tired of being the taskmaster. Tired of being the bad guy. All the time. Everyday. Tired of being the person who makes sure that the important things happen. Tired of checking the calendar. Tired of being the organizer. Tired of making sure we leave on time. Tired of making sure all the shoes are tied, the water bottles collected, the jackets in the car, the people are fed, necessary supplies for the outing collected, the everything where it is supposed to be. Tired of being the only one who cares even a little bit about a clean house. Just plain worn out. Someone will say, just let it go. Let everyone suffer the consequences of not having Mom remember everything. But how does that work when there are multiple people involved. Do we not go to Michael's piano lesson because Amanda would rather not go at all? What about the jackets? Do we leave the park early and disappoint everyone who did remember a jacket and was prepared or do we stay and I suffer through the whining that someone is cold? And the water bottles... Who sacrifices their water bottle to the person who didn't want to carry theirs but now is thirsty? Or listens to the whining about being thirsty? I tried waiting out the clean house issues. Unfortunately the laundry could pile up for a looooong time before anyone would decide that it was possible for them to turn on the washer or dryer. Even my five year old knows how the washer/dryer works but no one else ever does laundry. Or vacuums. Or cleans a toilet. Or cleans out the car. I have made lists for people to do. Unless I remind people to check their lists and do their jobs, they don't get done. It is almost as bad as having to do it myself. What is the use of having a list when I have to remind people a million times to look at the LIST. And then watch them do the job. And repeat again and again for three kids and each of their jobs. YUCK! Tired Mommy here. |
Nov. 6, 2009
All Better Again
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We are finally healthy again! We went to piano lessons/music class and that was good. We got rained on a little on the way down, but the rain went away before we went to the park. The park was dark and a little cold so we didn't stay long. I hope next week is drier and calmer! Hopefully a better update tomorrow. |
Nov. 5, 2009
Still Sick
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I suppose this could be a cut and paste from yesterday. Brad is still sick. Still slowly recovering. The fever broke and then came back and has now broke again. Mostly he is very tired and slowish. We are all hoping he feels better soon. So far, the cough is still not getting any worse. |
Nov. 4, 2009
Fever BROKE!
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The last fever broke overnight! I think we are really going to survive the swine flu. The cough is still alive and well, but we are definitely getting better. I like this! |
Nov. 3, 2009
Just moving along
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We are still waiting and seeing on our flu. So far it isn't getting any worse. It isn't any better either, but I can deal with just moving along in slow motion. It would be fantastic if Brad dealt with the flu like Michael did... he just kept on going. Amanda went to recorder class today and there were only two kids there. The girls weren't there at all and the other boy had a sore throat and a fever (also known as Flu-like illness). I think this is just everywhere right now. I hope wherever you are you are doing well and either have had this or don't get it at all. |
Nov. 2, 2009
Flu update
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I am much much better. No more fever. No more sore throat. No more runny nose. Still a cough but it is getting better with the sudafed. I think sudafed is the solution for this version of the flu. So if you are trying to get over the flu and have the sore throat, runny nose, cough going on... try sudafed. It really really helped me. Well, the five cups of peppermint tea helped some too. The other news is we think Brad is starting to come down with this too and this is NOT good. While none of the kids or I had any risk factors for problems, he does. And he is extremely reluctant to admit it. So now we wait to see if he really does get the flu and how hard it hits him. Thinking healthy thoughts! |
Nov. 2, 2009
Not making Park Day, and it's all MY fault
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It is 12:00 on a Monday, the kids are all healthy, it is 82 degrees outside and beautiful, and we are not packing up to go to Park Day. Why? Because I am sick. Mostly likely with swine flu, the same stuff the kids had last week. I don't think anyone is happy with this. The kids are climbing the walls. (Actually, Amanda is climbing the tree!) They want to go play. They want to go run around with their friends. I want to talk to my friends. We would likely have spent the entire afternoon at the park, getting home tonight when the sun went down. It would have been great. And none of it is happening. Because Mom got sick. Not much school is happening either. When 100% of your teaching staff is out with the flu, not much teaching is going on. Recorder and one piano practice got done because my big kids can do that on their own. I hope to get Peter to do some piano later. So today I am sitting on the couch with my blankie and the the kids are mostly outside here at home and hopefully I will get better soon. The fever is already down. We are waiting on the cough and the exhaustion to ease. And maybe for the idea of food to sound good. Peppermint tea is great stuff but it isn't exactly a complete source of nutrition. |
Nov. 1, 2009
The Flu is back
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The kids are fine. Amanda had a great time at her sleep over. However, Mom is not immune to viruses and has now caught the same flu-like illness that the kids had last week. Brad is back to being at home until our home is once again fever free for 24 hours. Hopefully he won't catch this and will be back to work later this week. (Flu-like illness is the official name for the flu that hasn't been tested in a hospital. They are not testing for HINI unless you get admitted. Too many sick folks. I probably do have HINI but we will likely never know officially.) |
Oct. 31, 2009
Halloween
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Happy Halloween! Tonight we handed out most of seven Costco sized bags of candy. And I took two Jedi trick or treating. Amanda is at her first ever sleep over. I hope she has a good time and that she is comfortable staying all night. We have told her that if she decided she wants to come home we will go get her no matter what time it is, but I still hope she can stay. On the way to the sleep over she asked Brad, "Dad, what is a good moral code?" Eek! Nothing like asking a loaded question while someone is driving and limited in time. I imagine we are going to get the question again, if only because she ran out of time to ask more questions. |
Oct. 30, 2009
Pumpkin Carving
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We went pumpkin carving tonight at the neighbor's house. I met the folks who live next door to us and the ones who live diagonally across too. It was nice. We found out that the neighbor can hear Amanda playing the recorder, but she likes it. They sometimes hear us playing outside, but it isn't a problem. And that everyone is pretty nice. We also told them we don't hear the dog or the exercise bike. All in all it was good. The kids did carve pumpkins, but I haven't the camera out to take pictures. I will try tomorrow. (And the cause of Amanda's grumpiness has been discovered. She has started THAT time of the month. Isn't a big surprise to anyone. I started about two months after I turned 11. She is starting right at 11. Well within normal. Both for our family and for girls in general. She is dealing with it alright, but is still grumpy. I hope it gets better soon!) |
Oct. 29, 2009
Math
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Today I spent an hour teaching my older kids how to study for a math quiz. We talked about figuring out the important points in the lesson. We talked about how to do all three types of problems. We talked about the most likely issues that would come up. We talked about the fact that studying and making notes is NOT cheating. I truly hope that it works. We also used our water color crayons and made some beautiful art. I hope to have pictures of our pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned for a scarlet ibis (a type of bird), a lion, another bird and two frogs. They came out really nice. |
Oct. 28, 2009
Meltdown
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Everyone is still healthy. No fevers. Tonight I found myself facing questions like, "Why am I here?", "Will the earth exist in 800 years?", "What should I do with my life?". Ugh! Then the ever popular, "What if something goes wrong?", "I can't do that I might offend someone.", and "But then they might not like me". Double ugh! I hate the movie Wall*E. It is again causing issues. I hate trying to be calm and not loose it. I hate trying to be confident and sure. I just hate this existential stuff. YUCK! |
Oct. 27, 2009
Happy Birthday!
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Today my big kid is eleven. It is amazing that she has gotten so big so fast. The days are long but the years are short. She is a wonderful, intelligent, thoughtful girl. Today she wanted to understand how to figure out how much money is really worth. The concept of work = money is hard when everything you need is provided by Mom and Dad. I'll have to think about that. And now for a few pictures...          Happy Birthday Amanda! |
Oct. 27, 2009
No fevers!
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As of about 9:00 this morning we are a fever free home. Wahoo! This means that Brad will go back to work tomorrow. The kids and I will be able to go to piano on Friday and things are really really getting better. I will do a birthday post for Amanda later today. I just needed to share the joy of no fever! |
Oct. 26, 2009
Better Again!
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Finally it looks like we might be on the getting better end of the flu. Peter looked and sounded so awful this morning that I called the doctor and got him seen this afternoon. The good news, he is definitely doing much better than he was earlier today. I am not sure if it was finally getting him to eat or just time, but he is doing better. The bad news, he has the flu and is working on getting an ear infection. We are going to try sudafed and if that doesn't work, I have a script for amoxicillan if he says his ears hurt. And then the fun news.... my Mom sent the kids balloons and teddy bears. I guess that is what Grandmas do when the grandkids get sick and are a thousand miles away. Want to see?  |
Oct. 25, 2009
Make that three
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We now have three kids who have the flu. It is really hard to watch them be so sick. Michael is still is holding out and not acting sick. But Peter is looking quite pitiful. And I can't get an accurate measure on the thermometer because he is tongue tied and can't keep the thermometer where it is supposed to be. I hate it when my kids are sick. |
Oct. 24, 2009
Number 2
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I spoke too soon. Michael started acting tired today. I just took his temp and he is at 101.3. That means we aren't done yet. Flu take two, here we go. |
Oct. 24, 2009
Better!
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The fever broke last night. While she isn't at 100% she is much improved. Her temp this morning was 101.3 without any tylenol in her system. And best of all she seems much happier. She is back to playing Neopets and eating real food. The cough is still there, but hopefully that will be better in a few days. So far no one else has caught whatever it is that she has. I would love to keep it that way.  A picture of happy kids at the aquarium! |
Oct. 23, 2009
Still Sick
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Well, she is still sick. She spent most of today laying on the couch. She figured out at about 7:00 tonight that she wasn't going to make her Apple ipod event tomorrow. It isn't a question of if we will let her go, it is the fact that she not capable of standing for any length of time. She is totally zonked. We are keeping the fever at 101.x with the tylenol, but it goes up to 104.x after 4-5 hours. She commented today that this was the sickest she has ever been. It sure sounds like flu to me. It is an unforgetable experience and you definitely feel sick. So far no one else in our house has any symptoms of anything. This is good. Brad is home until everyone in the house is fever-free for 24 hours without medicine. His work has decided that all employees can work from home if there is flu around. I don't mind. It is nice to have back up. I am hoping to go grocery shopping tomorrow. We need more tylenol and something for folks who aren't sick to eat. |
Oct. 22, 2009
Resting
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Amanda spent most of the day resting. She did perk up somewhat around 4:00 and watched a movie that we got from the library, but mostly she laid around and worked on getting better. So far no one else has a fever so that is good. Here are some more Aquarium pictures, we had a great time!     |