Adventures in Parenting

The Good:

Each morning, Carter and Aidan and I accompany Katelyn around the corner to school. I push the stroller while Carter rides his bike and Katelyn rides a bike or scooter. They get to play on the playground until the bell rings, then the kids line up and their teacher escorts them to class. This morning, Katelyn was already in line and following the teacher with the other kids when Carter got a very strong urge to give her one final hug and kiss. He was so insistent that I let him run after her. He was quick and didn't hold up their little line at all, and it made me glad that I allowed it. His little displays of affection just melt my heart.

*Because I have yet to post pictures of Katelyn's first day of school, I'm going to take the opportunity right now. Most of you are totally familiar with the emotional side of the first day of school, so I'll spare you a long, drawn-out post. Suffice it to say, I was sad to send my first child off to kindergarten, and tears were shed. It helped me to see her so happy to go.

This picture is blurry, but it captures Katelyn's mood that morning just perfectly.

Striking a pose

Katie and mom on their first walk to school

The Bad:

Aidan is the happiest baby around - usually. He spends 98% of his time smiling, laughing, and playing around. He's quite a tease for a 13-month-old. Well, my happy little guy has suddenly turned into a screaming, crying baby, thanks to some teeth trying to fight their way through his gums. He woke up around 4 this morning, so upset that I thought his screams were going to wake the other kids. I gave him Tylenol and held him for a long time, and finally gave up and put him in bed with me. He eventually fell asleep right before 6, just 15 minutes before I get Tanner up and see him off to school. Poor Tanner had to eat breakfast alone this morning because I was afraid if I tried to move Aidan he'd wake up and start screaming again, and I couldn't leave him in my bed. Of course, I had to get up soon anyway to feed the other kids and get Katelyn off to school. A few months ago, before Aidan starting sleeping through the night, I would have considered that a decent night's sleep. But I've gotten a little spoiled lately, so I was pretty tired this morning.

Unfortunately, the screaming and crying also lasted through much of our Costco trip today, and through Tanner's parent/teacher conferences. It was fun to try to talk to 8 teachers with a squirmy, upset baby in my lap.


The Ugly:

I mentioned that we went to Costco today. Well, I wouldn't recommend a Costco trip to anyone whose huband is out of town (hint, hint, Alisa). Somehow I managed to fit most of the store in the cart before we finally made it to the registers. After shopping for what seemed like hours, we had lunch at the snack bar. It is a real test of patience to try to get your rambunctious kids to eat their pizza without making a huge mess, and in less than 2 hours, all with a baby who's writhing and alternating between whining and screaming bloody murder.

So we made it through the shopping and eating, and were headed out the door. I let my kids bring the remainders of their drinks, and you can probably see where the story is heading now. Right as the woman at the door was checking my receipt, Carter dropped his root beer on the floor. It spilled in the center of the entrance, so people were backed up waiting to go around us as one of the employees and I worked to clean it up. Carter was upset and asking for more root beer, and I've been trying hard not to overreact in these situations. So to show him that I was not really angry over a spilled drink, I ran back and got him a little more. We gathered ourselves together and finally got out the door, and had walked about 12 steps when Carter dumped his entire drink AGAIN! We were outside of the store, but still inside of the main outer doors. I saw that one of the employees had seen it, and decided to let them take care of this one. So we left, and I made Carter throw his cup away. Sorry, but no refill after the second spill! I wasn't really embarrassed by the first spill, although I don't enjoy holding up crowds of people. But the second one made me feel like a real idiot for having given him another drink to spill immediately. Oh well, what do you do?