Waiting

Why is it that when I really don't have the time to wait, everyone and everything around me goes at a turtle's pace? But when I have all the time and freedom in the world, things fly at an alarming rate? Let me explain.

My eye doctor has one of the least efficient offices I've ever frequented. It drives me crazy. The only reason I stay with them is I only have to go to them once per year and they are close to my home. Oh, and every time I mention how much I don't like their office, I get a look from Michael that says, "Aims, you don't like any doctor. No one is perfect. Just suck it up and deal with it." And to be fair, he is right. So I've sucked it up and I am dealing with it.

So a couple of weeks back I had to get in for an eye exam. I went in for an 11:00 appointment with both children in tow. I'll spare you all the frustrating antics of a child either squirming to get out of the stroller, or attempting to tear up magazines. I'll even spare you having to read about the crying, fussing and wailing that ensued when I stopped any of the "fun" activities my children invented that were definitely on the "No, No" list. Instead I want to focus on the time line.

I arrived at 10:55. Again, my appointment was at 11:00. At 11:25 I was finally called back for the first phase of treatment. You know, the part where they shoot air in your eyes and make you look at the little red barn off on the horizon? It was lots of fun to focus on the letter chart across the room while at the same time trying to keep my 16 month old from racing back out to the lobby to play with the large selection of sample glasses.

We finish phase 1 at 11:35 and I am ushered back to the back of the office (to another waiting room) to wait for phase 2

Phase 2 is where they escort me and my two little darlings into the doctor's office where I sit on the exam chair (which, by the way, is equipped with a massage feature--I guess they know how long they plan on making you wait). Here I wait until 12:20. Yes, TWELVE TWENTY, until the doctor finally manages to grace me with his presence. If you haven't kept track, that is almost an entire hour from the end of phase 1. Keep in mind that I am still doing my best to wrangle two small children who are now WAY past their lunch time and are getting quite cranky.

I finally manage to leave the office at 1:15 (after finishing phase 3--picking out glasses and ordering contact lenses) and my children are delirious with hunger and exhaustion. As am I.

That brings me to today. Today was recheck day. I was to go into the office to see if the sample lenses they gave me were working so they could order the year's supply that cost me an arm and a leg. And by the way, today is Saturday. What that means for me is daddy gets to stay home with the younglings while I go to the doctor's office alone. I must tell you that I am quite giddy about this. I have my coffee and book in hand and am prepared to wait. Oh baby am I ready to wait. Pleeeeeeeeease let this be a long wait. No children? Dude, you can let everyone go ahead of me.

Turns out? Today was efficiency day. I have never, EVER gotten out of there so fast. I barely sat in waiting room #1 before I was being called to the back. I didn't even get to open my book. And forget waiting room number 2. No need for that when the doctor is already ready to see me in his office. I didn't even get to try out the massage chair. Don't they know that doctor's visits without children in tow are now the equivalent to spa treatments in my world? My appointment was at 9:15 and I was getting back in my car at 9:32.

Now I realize that this was just a recheck appointment and one should expect it to be quick. But I am here to tell you that even past recheck visits have taken at least an hour at this joint. I got robbed today people. ROBBED! I want my wait time and I want it now!

Oh well, I am sure they will make it up to me with extra wait time on my next visit. Which rest assured will include two screaming children.

Holy Hectic Week, Batman!

What a week! I've done it to myself, I know but we are maxed out on events this week. And that is not a complaint mind you. I love it when the week is full but not too full. Too much time locked indoors with two children under 3 is not my idea of fun.

We've had grocery shopping, swimming lessons, gymnastics, VBS planning meetings and playgroups. It has been a blissful jumble of business. Seriously. I love it when I have one good solid errand and/or event per day. I am a little perplexed because tomorrow is empty! Nothing to do. Maybe I'll fill up the baby pool in the back yard for some good splashing fun.

So the gymnastics. Claire has been in swimming lessons since April and is doing well. But as summer approaches, the swim club is getting very crowded and crazy which got me thinking that we needed a new summer activity. Thus, gymnastics. She is going to continue swimming through the end of June, but at that point, she will take a swimming hiatus until the fall.

Of course, now comes the chore of figuring out where to take my little tumbler for gymnastics classes. There are so many options in my area. I found 5 places that offered toddler classes and they all offer a free trial class. YES! So I scheduled one free trial class per gym and now have 5 weeks of free gymnastics classes for Claire. Score!  Don't worry, I am not a free loading Mommy who is just out for free lessons. I truly wanted to take a look at each place and actually considered just dropping by each place to check them out. But when I saw the free trials, I decided to give it a shot. That way I could not only see the facilities, but also watch how the instructors interact with Claire and make the choice that is best for her. The best part? Most of these gyms have Mommy and me classes that occur at the same time as the toddler classes. So I am going to get a free trial of those as well so that I don't have to spend the entire hour wrestling Sarah in and out of her stroller. Double score!

I've also been re-writing the curriculum for VBS. Sadly, Lifeway let us down this year and the lessons they offered were quite sad. We have several teachers on our team who have never taught VBS before and needed a little extra guidance to make these lessons flow. So I was able to exercise my passion for curriculum and re-write the lessons. I really had fun with it, but it was a lot of work. While it was fun to nerd out with my teacher skills once again, I am really relieved to have it all done and off my "to be done" list. When I sent the last day off to my director, I had the same feeling that I would get on the last day of school when the last kid headed out the door. Ahhhh, time to relax!

In all this craziness, my house has definitely taken a hit. (see my last post) So I am now off to clean up the destruction that followed the tidal wave also known as Sarah Grace.

Ta ta.

Mess Maker, Mess Maker, Make Me A Mess . . . .

(That title was written to the tune of the Match Maker song from Fiddler on the Roof--just so ya know.)


I've been pondering lately about this little dance that exists between my 16 month old and me. It goes something like this:

I gather all the toys, shoes, clothes and such and put them in their proper homes. I go to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher. When I return to the living room, I find new toys strewn about. They are not in use at the moment because the toddler who pulled them all out has apparently seen something shiny and fun in the other room and moved on to bigger and better things. So I again pick up the toys and throw them in their basket home.

I head to the kitchen to find that a cabinet door has been opened and I now have Tupperware all over the floor. I finish placing everything back in the cabinet (that was supposed to be locked--oops!) and head back to the living room where my 3 year old has removed her shoes and socks and left them on the floor. She is old enough to pick them up and put them where they belong on her own so I go in search of her to let her know just that.

On my way, I see that the 16 month old has now found the computer desk and is scattering the bills from the "pay these today" pile all over the floor while the 3 year old watches. I send the 3 year old to the living room to pick up the abandoned shoes and socks and pick up the bills and re-stack them by the computer.

I head into the kitchen to prepare lunch for the girls. Once finished, I go to the living room to find another slew of toys sprinkled all about the area rug.

At this point I begin to wonder who is more frustrated here. Clearly, I am frustrated by the constant mess and walking hazards (have you ever stepped on a hard plastic toy in bare feet? OUCH!) But I wonder what Sarah is thinking. If I could peek inside her baby brain, she might be thinking, "Mom, I JUST put all those toys out on the floor. I can't believe you are going to make me scatter them again!"

We stare at each other thinking the same exact phrase with two distinct meanings, "Can you just leave the toys where they belong?!?!"

I know, I know

I am desperately trying to dig myself out from under the mounds and mounds of chores that were staring me in the face when we returned home from Dallas. I am close friends, I see the light peeking through. I'll try to post something substantial tomorrow. (fingers crossed)

Claire's Toe **UPDATED--See bottom of post**

Hey all. Do you remember about a month ago when I posted my grocery store horror story? And do you remember the picture of Claire's toe at the end of it? You know, the smallish little bruise that resulted from her dropping a can of soup on said toe? Well here we are a month later and her toe is only getting worse. She isn't bothered by it at all, but it seems like it should have started growing out by now. Take a look:

Injury Day:

And now, a month later:

I do realize that these things take quite some time to go away. I fully expected to see a black bruise-like spot slowly working its way up and off of my little girl's toe, but I didn't expect it to look worse and just slowly take over her entire toe nail. She is not in any pain and can walk just fine so my thinking was to just leave it and let it grow out on its own.

Any advice for me out there? Do any of you have any experience with toe bruises. I, apparently, am clueless. I have e-mailed her doctor and attached these pics. So I am sure I will hear something back by the end of the day. (By the way, how cool is it that I can e-mail my child's doctor and get her opinion? Have I mentioned lately how much I love that doctor's office?!?!)


UPDATE: The doctor e-mailed me back and said that as long as it isn't causing any pain (it isn't) and she can walk on it without trouble (she can) that we are safe to just wait it out. But I am supposed to be on the watch for any redness or irritation. If that develops, then we will have to go in. I must say I am quite disturbed at the prospect of drilling into my baby's toe nail as some have suggested on the comments. Let's hope that isn't necessary because it would probably require a sedative for Mommy.

Sorry Buddy, You Have to Stay Home

Must. Post. Something.

I'm just posting to tell you all why I am not posting. We are preparing to head out of town. For all you moms of little ones out there, I know that is enough said. But for everyone else, know that my to do list is looming over me and every time I start to log on to Blogger, it smacks me in the back of the head. Really annoying. So I am off to tackle it once more. Wish me luck, it's surprisingly strong.

This Might Sting A Bit

This post is entirely about inappropriate store parking lot behavior. One should note that I judge based solely on my own pet peeves. These may not bother you. In fact, you may be one of the people committing these acts. If so, this post might sting a little. Many apologies in advance for that. 

Offense #1: Putting flyers under my windshield wiper
Man oh man do I hate this one! It happened just today. I went to the grocery store in need of two little items. When I pulled into my parking spot, I noticed that all the cars surrounding mine had been "tagged" with Chinese Food Menus. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had apparently missed the flyer bandit and was in the clear. I was in the store for 5, count 'em, 5 minutes. When I returned to my car, I too was tagged. Was this guy just circling the parking lot looking for new victims to drive in so he could move in for the kill?

The thing that I hate most about these things is that I NEVER notice them until I am already in the car all buckled up and ready to go. Then I have to get out of my car and remove the stupid thing. My temptation is to just turn on my wipers as I am driving at full speed so that the flyer will live up to its name. But I can't do that because my pet peeve for littering is just a bit stronger than the one for these flyers. So, alas, I get out of my car and put the flyer in my car with me until I can get home and trash it. GRRRRR.

Offense #2: Reckless Shopping Cart Abandonment
This is probably my biggest pet peeve. (I only listed the flyer thingy first because it JUST HAPPENED and was fresh on my nerves.) I am constantly amazed by people who empty their shopping carts and then leave them willy nilly in the parking lot without taking them to the cart return. I know it isn't fun to take the shopping cart back, I do. I hate doing it myself, but it is my responsibility. If I leave my cart out there, one of three things could happen: 1) Nothing 2) It takes up another parking space and keeps the next customer from getting a good spot 3) It rolls away and smashes into another person's car causing damage. I am choosing to believe that these abandoners are betting on #1, but that still doesn't excuse the behavior in my book.

Don't get me wrong, I've been tempted many times to leave the cart beside my car and take off. Especially when it is raining. Or when the cart return is WAAAAAAAY over there and I have two screaming kids in the car. But in the end, I know that I chose my own parking spot. It's not like I parked right next to the cart return and then the employees moved it while I was shopping. I knew when I arrived that I would have this little trek to make so I have no one to blame but myself.

Just the other day, I was aghast as I witnessed this offense to the extreme degree. There was a beautiful, shiny SUV parked right in front of my stylin' mini-van. The lady who owned said SUV was just finishing up the unloading of the cart. She was parked beside the cart return. The cart return, my friends, was RIGHT BESIDE her driver's door. Yet, she crammed the cart into the space between her passenger door and the car to her right. Lady--you had to walk to the cart return to get in your car! Couldn't you just bring the cart along for the ride? Shesh!

These people are either major hypocrites or their houses are a jumble of a mess. Think about it. What parent doesn't tell their child to put things back where they belong? Maybe the children don't get told it all the time, but at some point, the child has picked up an item that they should have left alone, or they have strewn their toys all about the dining room or something. The natural response is to tell the child to put things back where they belong. What message does this communicate to them when they see mom and/or dad refusing to put their cart back where it belongs?

Can you tell that this is my biggest pet peeve?

I will say that I have abandoned a cart once. ONCE. It was outside of the Bed Bath and Beyond at our local Ghetto-Mall. I got out to the car only to realize that they don't have cart returns in that parking lot. So I would have had to leave my children in the car while I traipsed back into the mall to return the cart. Not going to happen my friends. So that time, I reluctantly pushed the cart to the very front of the parking lot to get it as close to the store as possible and walked back to my van, head hung in shame. And since that day, I just do whatever it takes to not take the cart out to my van. I will say though that I look quite dashing with multiple bags hanging off of both arms while pushing a stroller as my toddler hangs on to my back pocket.  But I digress.

Offense #3: Almost returning your cart
I know, I know, but humor me here. There seems to be an epidemic of people who are only half hearted in their attempts to return their carts. On multiple occasions I have tried to return my cart only to find a smattering of carts all piled up around the entrance to the cart return. The cart return itself? Empty. But the 5 feet radius in front of the cart return looks like a 20-cart pile up jumble of craziness. I don't want to have to untangle your mess just so I can return my cart.

Okay, venting session complete. I am now off to enjoy some freshly baked brownies and possibly order some Chinese food. If only I knew of a great place in my area.  Snark, snark, snark.

What Could've Been

Wouldn't this have been a cute picture?

Pretty flowers in the background? Check.

Cutie patootie girls in matching dresses courtesy of MiMi? Check.

Bright and sunny day? Check.

But instead, I get this. Sarah, who can only sit still for 1.2 seconds is about to break loose and start digging in the dirt. And Claire. Oh, my precious Claire. It looks like she is just distracted by all the beauty behind her. But nope. She has deliberately turned her back on Mommy because she knows I want the picture. Sigh. Let the three's begin.

Frequent Flyer

So I was all poised to type up an entry about my feelings on shopping carts when Sarah woke up from her nap with a fever. So I called the doctor and they agreed to see her immediately. Now, if you have stopped keeping track (or never started) that makes 4 doctor visits in 4 weeks. Seriously. I feel certain that they are preparing my frequent flyer card as we speak.

My doctor's husband apparently keeps up with her appointments and schedules on his computer and he even called her today and said, "What is up with Evans' coming in today? You'd better check that baby over real good." Lovely.

So we entered the doctor's office with a baby running 102 and left with a diagnosis of Hand Food Mouth Disease.  Want to hear the kicker? Do ya? I have it too. Yep, that's right. As the doctor was explaining all the symptoms and duration mumbo jumbo I asked if Claire was likely to get this from her sister. She said that in older children and adults, it only results in mild fever and a slightly scratchy throat. (symptoms, by the way, that I have been dealing with over the past two days assuming I was just reacting to pollen.) When I told the doctor that I had those symptoms, she looked in my throat and confirmed my own diagnosis. Again . . . lovely.

So I am off to medicate my baby with Tylenol/Codeine. I wonder if I should take a nip off of it too. At least one of us should sleep well tonight.

A Quick Post

I thought I'd better post something quick before I lapse back into my blog coma. Don't want that do we? Not a lot happening today that is noteworthy. Claire had swim class, then we bought groceries. (careful not to fall out of your seat over the excitement.)

On a random note, Claire has been on a 4 day poopy strike and decided today was the day to end it. She went potty just before nap time and within a literal 5 seconds filled the toilet with more poop than I have ever seen all at one time. Good gracious me. If it weren't so gross and disgusting, I would've taken a picture and posted it. Okay, not really. So my precious first born is now sleeping and is probably about 2 pounds lighter. Score.

Over the weekend we went to a neighborhood splash pad. It was a first experience for Sarah and she was quite intrigued with it all.

      

   

And when Claire wasn't shooting the water cannons,

 

she spent her time either beating up the water . . . 

 . . . or running from it.

And I tried to get a cute sister pic. Really, I did. I don't know many times I will have to say, "Go stand by your sister." before Claire actually listens. For now, I am going to have to settle for the random, accidental shot that just so happens to include both of them.

Like the wild and crazy hair? Yep, that's my girl!