Today was the first "real" day of summer for us. My mom left yesterday, M went to work for regular hours today, and it was just me and the boys. What a daunting feeling at 7:30 in the morning: 12 hours of non-stop kids. Non-stop talking. Non-stop demands. Occasional-stop bickering. I should have made my coffee "Irish." But then again, Mommy's been making a lot of things "Irish" lately.
We hit a bit of a snag during breakfast. We are down to some bare bones in breakfast foods. Since I only buy packaged food once a month, the cupboard gets a bit bare at the end of week 3. But we muscled through the lack of cereal and compromised on oatmeal. Okay...
We did our "bridge" activity worksheets with no issues whatsoever. We had fun with them and worked steadily for 45 minutes. So far, so good.
Easy hour ahead--I picked up the house, unloaded laundry baskets, and walked on the treadmill for a lousy 15 minutes while S watched TV and E did computer. It's cheating a little, but still pretty good.
We packed up some supplies and headed to the park and (shockingly!) arrived on time. Friends came and played. I shared a nice visit with a mom friend. We had cold drinks in the car to stave off total meltdown. I'm feeling confident.
Lunch. See, I went and got cocky. I told the kids I'd take them to Moe's, and there was a line. Delayed gratification = time to bicker. GRRR. I wolfed down my food and started threatening.
Grocery store. Thus far, it is the only thing today that I didn't package and sell to my kids as fun fun fun. I have asked them to buy enough groceries for one meal. I have not asked them to cross the Sahara with only a wet washcloth to drink from. Bicker. Pushing. Bicker bicker bicker. We got home with more bickering. I set the timer for 15 minutes--this is the amount of time they will now have to wait before getting to go swimming. Just barely 1 PM--I am not staying as strong as I had hoped.
Finally, fifteen minute timer is up, we head out for the pool. Old Man E complains about the temperature of the water. S must chime in. Regardless, they manage to play in the sand box for about an hour happily. I get them to go in the water for about half an hour more. It's 2:45 and I'm feeling doomed. M won't be home for hours. I look desperately to the horizon. There are no reinforcements. I begin to panic, but check the fear. I can handle this.
We change clothes and surprisingly, kids agree to play cars together. I ask no questions. I do not look a gift horse in the mouth.
I grab a giant glass of water and take a quick shower to wash off the sunblock. It's 3:15. We're doing it. Cocktail hour is only an hour and a half from now. I can do that. No problem.
Only one problem left to solve today: What am I going to make Irish tonight?
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