Chuck asked how my day was earlier and I said it was pretty normal. Yet, upon further analysis, it seems my initial deduction was flawed. I guess if you consider getting in a car wreck and loosing your wallet all in the same day 'normal' - then I qualify. Chuck actually had to remind me of those things. I'm having serious problems with my mind. Okay, so the car wreck was only a fender bender in the parking lot with an elderly lady and only my bumper got smashed. Then it miraculously "unsmashed" itself (don't ask me how, I just looked at it and it was gone). The poor lady was shaking, she felt so bad. I was just hoping she wasn't fixin to have a heart attack - that would be a problem. I called her later and reassured her that everything was perfectly fine and not to worry - poor lady.
That incident happened in the parking lot of the store I was about to enter. Needless to say, my mind was a little preoccupied. Then, once we are walking around the store, Bennett decides he's had enough and since he's two he has the miraculous ability to change his behavior in a millisecond. So, its no wonder that I'm slightly distracted and end up leaving my wallett at the check-out and don't realize it until about 4 hours later. Thankfully, after ransanking the house and car looking for it, I realize that just maybe I might have left it at the store (I give credit here to Divine Revelation). I call, they have it, I go get it. How blessed am I ?!
The rest of the evening is pretty much a blurr....Chuck and I passing each other in the hallway, each with one or two children hanging off of us, saying a quick "hi, see ya tonite once the kids are down". Then comes the "tuck n' run" bedtime routine...the goal here is to get them down and us out as quickly as possible. That way we have more than 1/2 hour to spend with each other before we both pass out from sheer exhaustion at 9pm. Yep, I'd say overall, this has been a pretty good day!
I just mentioned to my sister-in-law today that the writing out of my days is therapeutic for me. I’m sure some people might be thinking that I need therapy instead of a therapeutic activity after most days, but I would have to argue that point. My children are my therapy. They teach me about what is really important in life – each other. It’s how we respond to each other through out events in our day that draw us closer together or pull us apart. They remind me that I’m not in control (not even in the tiny-tiniest bit) and that God is. And that if I want to still be sane by the end of the day, I need to draw on His strength and use the same grace He’s shown me towards my children. Needless to say, I draw on those ‘grace reserves’ multiple times an hour and am extremely grateful that it's there. Other times, unfortunately, I chose not to show grace and almost always end up learning humility by apologizing to my kids for my outburst (which I still feel was justified, just not handled graciously).
Today, for the most part, has been normal. “Normal” meaning, I didn’t need to carry a pooper scooper with me anywhere today. I forgot to mention, that after ‘the incident’ at the water park yesterday, the lady who was holding Chloe for me thought that I could use some advice on potty training….gee, do ya think?! I gladly took her advice, but have yet to put it into action. Of course, I’m waiting for the perfect day to start (which is never). It involves prune juice, sprite, a cup, Bennett, the potty and 30 minutes of my time. I just don’t see that happening during the normal course of events in our day. Maybe I can talk Chuck into taking some PTO until we get this potty training thing down….priorities, right?! This is a two man job. Did I mention that it took me a whole year to potty train Gavin? Yes, I have supposedly done this once before, so it shouldn’t be all that hard on the second go around. I’m thinking of starting a group called “Potty Training Anonymous” where normal moms, like me, can come and admit to they're miserable, pathetic, useless teaching techniques and not feel like a total looser. We will refuse to let in moms who were able to potty train in one day or moms of little girls who are infinitely more easy to potty train (so I’ve heard. Plus, I am one, and it’s pretty easy for me to use the potty. I have no horrible flashbacks from that time of my life, so obviously I was easy to potty train). Okay, enough obsessing about potty training Cori!!
On a brighter note, Chloe rolled over for the first time today. Gavin, Bennett and I were thrilled. We called everyone we could think of that lived in our area code. Gavin was disappointed later on however, when he went to sit with her and she wouldn’t roll over on command. Note to self: remember to teach Gavin that his sister is not a dog. During Gavin and Chloe’s bonding time, I am still stuck at the table telling Bennett for the 32nd time to eat his applesauce or he won’t get any dog snacks (Nilla wafers). Bennett coined that phrase, not me. I then had to remind him to use his napkin to wipe the applesauce off the table, not the shirt that he is wearing. Some things are just obvious to me, I don’t know why they aren’t to the kids. Poor kid never finished his applesauce and had to go take his nap without any dog snacks. Could his day get any worse? I can only imagine how much fun we’ll have after naptime today…..
