Adventures in Mothering

I've had a horrible day. It was one of those days where I should have called it quits by 9:30am, gone home, crawled into bed and start the day all over again, I would have. Maybe I just wouldn't have gotten up. Honestly, today was nothing short of an adventure in motherhood - and judging from my clothing choice this morning - apparently God has a sense of humor and thought I was in the mood for an adventure too.....

I start at Target to drop off a roll of film from yesterday's trip to the zoo. The photo tech. - who couldn't have been more than 15 yrs. old - tells me that they won't be processing any film for two days because they are upgrading their equipment. Grrrrr......

Then, this morning was supposed to be Nani's first ballet class (and no, it wasn't at the Mommie Dearest School of Dance & Charm). I was incredibly excited - both for her and for me. I would get to see my baby girl in her natural habitat -- a dance studio! We get to the studio and the lady at the desk tells me that the dance studio is on the 2nd floor - and no, they do not have an elevator. So, am I supposed to hump up two flights of stairs with a stroller? What do they do for people in wheelchairs or do they assume that our town doesn't have any handicapped people living in it?

The lady at the desk also tells me that Nani would need appropriate dancewear for the next class. Huh? It's a preschool dance class for 4 yr. olds. I assumed she'd need ballet shoes, but nowhere in the brochure did it say to dress your child appropriately (translation - spend another $50 on leotards, tights, etc.) By this time I was starting a slow burn..... Now I'm torn -- do I take her home, stop on the way, buy all the dance stuff, and start again next week OR let her go and take the chance that she's not the only one with a flighty mom who didn't think to ask if there was a uniform for the dance class.

Dance class had to take a back seat though, because somewhere between our driveway and the dance studio, Nani decided to have her first ever ear infection. She's tilting her head and saying that her ear hurts. Uh oh. She keeps pointing to her right ear saying that "it hurts bad mommy, I need to see the doctor". Now this is a major thing for my daughter to want to skip a dance class in favor of the doctor.

So, we left and I tried calling her doctor - who "can't see her at all today, but we can get you in at 2pm tomorrow." Sorry, not good enough. My baby is in pain and we're taking care of this TODAY! So, as a fall-back, I call her old pediatrician's office who said bring her in at 11am (it's now 10am). So, to kill time (and to take her mind off the pain), I take Nani to Starbucks and get her a frappacino and then head to the library. On the way to the library, I hear this pitiful little cry from the backseat. I turn around and see Nudge with the grossest runny nose I have ever seen. (Now, I can take the vomit and crappy diapers -- but I hate - HATE - the runny nose!) Sigh!

At the doctor's office, I can't find my insurance card. I'm assuming that it's somewhere in the house after the many times Nudge has gotten into my bag and dumped the contents of my wallet everywhere. (I'm still looking for my library card.) I give them My Marine's name - surely they can look the information up this way. No luck. The "system" is telling the nice, young girl behind the desk that My Marine and my family don't exist in the health insurance system. Don't panic....I tell myself. Just call My Marine at work and get him to give you the information off HIS insurance card. Easy - right? WRONG? Seems that SOMEONE doesn't carry his insurance card in his "every day" wallet. It's in the "special" wallet that's sitting on the top of his dresser. If I could have reached through the phone to choke him, I would have. So, now I have to reschedule the appointment, drive back home, find the card, drive back to the doctor's office and hope that the "system" can find us now. Twenty minutes later, I'm told that I don't have a copay and that the doctor will see us soon. Sweet!

After the doctor, I made my rounds of 4 different kid's consignment stores looking for a black leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet shoes. Fortunately, I managed to find all three along with a new Leap Frog toy for Nudge and a Little Mermaid vanity for Nani. (I know, I'm such an enabler.....)

At the car, while loading Nudge in her carseat, Nani decides to "help" mommy and close the tailgate of the Jeep.......on her fingers. After opening the door faster than you can say "S*#T!!!!", I rolled my eyes heavenward and just asked God to help me with my patience for the rest of the day. God must have been taking a coffee break when I uttered that little prayer.......

Back in the car, I had to make a stop for a Freecycle pickup. Not an easy feat today. I drove around for 10 minutes looking for the darn place and once I did find it, the stuff I was supposed to pick up wasn't there and the kid that answered the door had no clue what I was talking about. I was very disappointed because this was a couple bags of clothes for the girls.

On the way to the pharmacy, Nudge's cries are getting more hoarse and more pitiful, Nani keeps rubbing her ear, and I'm wondering why I'm feeling so darn shaky. I look at the clock in the Jeep and realize that it's 2pm! I've been gone since 9am and haven't eaten yet - no wonder I can physically feel my blood sugar plummeting!

At 2:10pm, I get a voice mail from My Marine saying, "I hope Nani's ok and by the way - I'm flying late tonight....be home around midnight...."

At 2:15pm, I decided to self-medicate myself with Taco Bell and the biggest Pepsi they had. I had to resist the urge to ask them if they could start offering bucket-sized Pepsi's on their menu. They'd have a customer for life if they did!

Got home, drugged the girls - Nani with her prescriptions and Nudge with Benedryl (per the doctor's instructions), grabbed my own "medicine" and headed down to the couch to put my feet up and watch Wife Swap and Dr. Phil. I wasn't even going to ATTEMPT anything else on my to do list for today.

But you know, it was all wiped away when I went upstairs to check on the girls and caught these priceless moments. (Seems that Nani is already feeling better -- Nudge, not so much...)

And then before bedtime, Nani said to me -- "Mommy don't worry....God will make me & Nudgie all better and He'll make you feel all better too."

Can you hear my heart melting?! I guess today wasn't such a bad adventure after all!