A Bad Week

Lauren, Claire's preschool best friend, got it right this week. Out to lunch together after preschool on Tuesday, she looked at me earnestly, and in a very adult-like tone, said, "it must be really hard to have two babies". Oh, honey, if you only knew.

I've had a bad week with the kids. I'm simply super busy with work and the kids are just an annoyance, an after thought. I can't get any work done until the twins' nap time, so I'm stuck with packing in a bunch of stuff in three (or fewer) hours and then catching up at night. Add on my office day on Sunday, and I'm fried for the week and need a BIG break from it all - work, and kids.

Claire has had lots of fun with daddy this week and again thinks I'm the no fun, mean mommy, which means she doesn't listen to me and acts really bratty toward me. My patience is wire thin with her given my need to get work done, and housework completed, and personal time to myself. Molly is testing her limits in every way at every moment; Lily, for her part, is beginning to test limits more and (as one would guess) continues to use food as a way to control her world. So with three kids testing my patience, and work/customers doing the same, I think a big glass of wine or a massage or a whole day to myself is just what the doctor ordered.

My hope was to take "comp time" tomorrow, but with work issues coming up non-stop this week I don't think this will be possible after all. The sour mood continues this evening, and tomorrow, and ...

For a little diversion, here's a voyeuristic link to information about Jon (of Jon & Kate Plus 8 fame) partying with other girls (didn't I previously post that marriage with multiples is tough? Even if you've got lots of money and hired help, I guess):

http://www.usmagazine.com/news/jon-and-kate-dad-caught-with-other-woman-2009284

Claire's Video

Claire likes the "Cool Tricks" segments on Noggin (in between cartoons), where kids show off funny little tricks. She made a video for us tonight to showcase something she had figured out minutes earlier. Now she won't stop doing it.

Sunday Torture

8.5 hours in the office today: Check
Grocery trip for weekly shopping: Check
Partial dinner prep and clean up: Check
Time with the kids: hmmmmmmm

Needless to say, I'm in a foul humor thanks to my office day on a Sunday (I was at the office by 7am, before anyone was awake in my house). I got a couple hours around the twins but Claire played outside with the neighbor girl all afternoon (and ate dinner outside with her) so I literally spoke no more than 20 sentences to Claire all day today.

Uggggg. I'll be working in some comp time this week to make up for lost kid time.

Oh, and the nanny called in sick for tomorrow so I'm scrambling to figure out how I can chair a 10am conference call without kid interruptions. Panic!

The New Ride

Molly won't be secured into anything moving. Not a stroller, not a carseat. I get the back arched, screaming fit any time I have to click her into something. So I had the grand idea to go to Toys R Us with Claire earlier today and buy a double-kid wagon (unfortunately for full price) that's not quite a wagon, thinking Molly would find it entertaining and wouldn't throw a fit.

We made it on one short trip to the neighborhood park and then she wouldn't ride in it again. So much for that grand idea. Snapped a photo when we arrived at the park when she was still happy with the new ride.

I guess this wagon is their overpriced 19-month-old "present", as today they hit that mark.

Field Trip Day

Today should have been a thoroughly enjoyable day. Claire had a preschool field trip to a pond and the twins and I joined so that I could shuttle Claire to and from the pond myself. The weather was super windy, but warm. I expected the twins would love the change of pace; instead, Molly cried nonstop. Nonstop. So the morning was ruined, and I'm not exactly sure what Molly disliked so much other than the gale force winds which were clearly bothering both of the twins.

The morning hubbub caused the twins to nap for four hours, so I was able to finish up some work and play outside with Claire for a little while. When the twins awoke I expected to do snack and then play a while before dinner, but Lily shattered those plans. She had gone diaper diving again, and her room, hands, bed, and clothes smelled of poop, so I had to bathe her and clean all her clothes and bedding. I spent thirty minutes hunkered down with Lysol wipes and getting her cleaned up. Yes, I was furious, and our afternoon was ruined thanks to Lily's continued fascination with her bodily functions. This is my fourth round of cleaning her and her bed due to diaper diving and what frustrates me the most is she seems uninterested in learning that she shouldn't touch poop. In fact, she seems to have little comprehension of what she did wrong.

Urgh. The only thing that improved my day is I attended the mothers of multiples "garage sale" tonight and picked up a bunch of great stuff for less than $60. I bought 7 pairs of shoes (one pair is even brand new), several items of clothing, and tons of good games (most for Claire and some for the twins). In fact, Claire is still awake playing with her new Leapster games ($3! instead of $25!) - not that I think it's a good idea she's having a late night. And I'm wiped after some bad sleep this week and a couple days of cranky kids (yesterday all three were quite cranky on me all day long).

Tomorrow is dance class and a negotiation with Kyle over how much work time he needs because that always dictates my schedule. Sunday, unfortunately, I am tapped to be in the office at 7am (!) to ensure our billing system conversion goes smoothly. I am feeling super grumpy about this because Sunday is my only day of the week to sleep in and ignore my adult responsibilities for an hour or so. Ah well, it's the price I pay for so much WFH flexibility!

Water Table Video

Here's the video I discussed in my previous post - lots of fun with the water table tonight! It certainly made my dinner prep time a breeze. The twins were too entertained to need my attention.

I think Molly is learning how to torture her sister already.

Water and Goose Eggs

We're on head injury watch, again. Tonight at the dinner table Molly pushed her chair back from the table like she always does to indicate she was 'done', but instead she somehow pushed herself straight backward with the chair, strapped into the booster seat, crashing to the floor. I frantically tried to break the fall (all seeing this happen in excruciating slow motion) but to no avail. BANG. Molly screaming. Me shaking. Kyle rushing off with Molly to another room (he has a habit of grabbing hurt kids and taking them away from me, which panics me even more).

She has a big knot on the back of her head, a little low on the skull, closer to the neck area, and all I can think of is that actress who just died of a head injury on an easy ski slope. So I've been totally panicked the last three hours.

Before that, the kids were having a great time outside with the water table. When I arrived home from work, Kyle set up the baby gate system outside on the patio (handy way to keep them from running off) while he cleaned up the roofers' mess in our yard and I started dinner. We let them play with the water table which they were ecstatic about (photos show it all) and they got so dirty I had to do bath night tonight. And then Molly slipped and fell in the bathtub for her second fall for the night. If it didn't scare me so much, I'd almost find tonight comical.

I've got a great video but I'll do it in a second post. The twins played with the water for a long time and then all the sudden, while I was filming the video, Molly got the idea to dump water on Lily's head which actually made Lily laugh. I thought it was hysterical so I'm uploading the video for sharing.

I hope, hope that Molly is OK. In fact, it's about time to check on her again. I'll be up all night checking on her. Claire, for her part, seems to be getting sick (how! it's Spring!), so we're in for another round of cooties I'm afraid.