Scared of “The Fly”

It sounds like something out of a scary movie….and I’ll admit it is a little daunting when you have a fly in your home so large that it casts a shadow…in March! It is actually all of my fault, we were eating supper and I noticed a large but on what appeared to be the outside of our sliding glass door.  I walked over and said, ” Whew! Well at least that thing is on the outside!” and then it flew over the supper table where my husband and two young, very impressionable boys sat.

Both boys were wide-eyed and jumping up trying to get a better look as this massive object maneuvered over us.  My husband and I tried multiple times to kill him with the fly swatter to no avail. Then as our evenings usually do, karate and homework, baths and bedtime took over and everyone forgot about the ginormous fly.

Until everyone was two hours late for bedtime and whining and fussing about this or that. Through Tyler’s tears I manage to understand him crying softly, ” Mommy, I’m scared!” So, I went in their room and asked what he was scared of and he said, “The big fly.” Michael then chimed in and said he could hear it “beating its wings and buzzing their heads”.  Deciding that any chance of a quick nap before going to work was pretty much out of the question-I did a quick surveillance of the room, found no trace or sign of the fly. Closed their bedroom door and crawled into the small bed with both kids for an hour of sleep! Ahhhhh! Safe at last!!!

 

So, five hours later I am busy working downstairs and run up for a quick potty break.  Who is in my bathroom but this large Pteranodon of a Fly! He is huge! and buzzing around like someone on crack. I spent ten minutes trying to swat at him, but the thing moved so fast and never stopped for a second.  Finally calling a truce, I closed the bathroom door behind me and left him in the bathroom for an entire night of privacy.  I am praying that the boys don’t get up in the middle of the night for a potty break and go in there!

I am sitting here an hour later, still itching at my scalp and shaking from the thought of that nasty beast!

Our Big Break!

Saturday night, the boys got to go stay with some friends while Jeff and I went out to dinner.  The children that they stayed with go to the same home babysitter as ours, so they have known each other since birth.  We had made arrangements early on that Michael could stay over but not wanting to totally ruin our friends own much-needed sleep, we would pick Tyler up after dinner and bring him home with us.

After dinner, we kissed Michael good night and loaded Tyler into his car seat.  As Jeff began backing my car out of the driveway-Tyler cried, ” Oh no! Now Michael is going to follow us!” I guess he was thinking this was finally our big chance of breaking from his older brother and making our BIG escape!! I still giggle thinking about it.

He changed his tune once we were in the house, realizing that he would now have to sleep in his room ALONE! He played along with us until I was fast asleep and Jeff was busy on the computer and then he crept in and snuggled into bed next to me for the night.  I took comfort in having him near me.  I always think I am going to sleep so good when my kids aren’t home-but I guess that Mother’s Instinct kicks in and leaves me a paranoid mess wondering how the sleepover is going.

I hope I never truly Escape my children and I hope they always follow me home!

 

Merry Christmas to All….and to some a good night!

Christmas is always such a fun time of year for most, the holiday cheer, time with family, smiling faces.  Sometimes I think we completely take for granted how blessed we are. Completely oblivious and unaware to what others in our communities are facing at this very moment.

Having worked in a Pediatric ER, I learned quickly that holidays are no exception for bad things happening, even on the holidays.  The child whose asthma has worsened and landed them in the Intensive Care Unit.  The unlucky family whose car rolled off the interstate pinning multiple people inside.  All now spending the holiday hours sick with worry and fear for their own lives.

Then there is always the reminder of those who are no longer in our lives. Maybe your spouse of forty-six years that passed away last month. The loss still raw from emotion and trying to heal.  The mother who lost her newborn child this very day three years ago, to whom Christmas will never be the same.

Children who should have been enjoying the holiday of Christmas, worried about their own father fighting for our freedom. Standing in church watching complete families attending Christmas mass together.  Completely oblivious to the fact that their dad may be just another casualty of war today.

Just a simple reminder to spread kindness and love to those whose holidays maybe weren’t so merry this year.  It may not be obvious who these people are, so this year try to go that one step forward to reach out to strangers and offer them your blessing.  May they all sleep peacefully tonight!

Crabby Pants

I wish this post were about my children throwing tantrums, but it’s not! It’s just me taking out my frustration on my keyboard.  I have been so cranky today…and granted I have minute reasons to be.  I’m overly tired, I have worked a lot of nights in a row-with little sleep during the day.  The children are growing bored with  our mundane routine of running from one place to the next, squeezing in a very un-nutritious meal, adding homework and once in a while fitting in a bath before bed.  Oh yeah, and being a RN I should know better but my children are ten months over due for their well checks with the pediatrican!!

 I also have had two maternal aunts diagnosed with colon cancer in the last month by the same surgeon at the same hospital at the same spot in their intestines (really?????!).  I believe two more of the twelve children in their immediate family have since gone for colonoscopies and were cleared.  Another is scheduled for tomorrow and my own mother is going on Wednesday to get her own scheduled.

Christmas is coming, regrets of overspending on some and under- spending on others, the senseless task of buying stamps and mailing out the already addressed Christmas cards seems unbearable and then there is still all of the gift wrapping.  Along with a dear relative who shalt remain nameless who calls me daily, telling me she picked up another item for the children but she already has their presents bought-would I like to buy it from her?

Then there is the horrific smell of ham and bean soup.  I craved it last night, I went to make it today in the crock pot.  I went to the store and learned what a ham hock looks like-Eew!!! No way! So I bought sliced ham and made it anyway-now I can’t get the smell out of my nose and even though it tasted really good, it is starting to make me feel nauseated!

I actually tried changing out of my pajama pants that were possibly making me crabby (aka the crabby pants that I was wearing) and that didn’t help! Apparently, the ones I chose to wear instead must have been washed with the same crabbiness in the washing machine. 

Why do we get in these funks? Why is everything so irritating?  Why is it that sometimes nothing makes you smile or laugh? Why is it that the littlest of things can send you spinning like a hurricane?

I think that  tomorrow, after my long nap from working tonight, I will reload my wash machine with every pair of pants I own and re-wash them all-maybe that will make me feel less crabby……or maybe it won’t?

Rainy Day

It’s raining again today! Welcome to the end of October-I love this weather. It’s cold in the morning making the warmth of your blankets harder to leave behind. A good day for staying in jammies, hanging out around the house and doing absolutely nothing. Sshh! Don’t tell my husband-he has yet to figure out what it is that I do while he is at work all day.

Working nights again tonight, so I will likely crawl back into the warmth of my blankets and settle in for a long winter’s nap-at least until school gets out and our nightly ritual ensues. Homework, supper, karate, religion class, baths and to bed. Some where in there I will hear-“but I didn’t even get to play with my toys tonight”, “can we watch a movie” and “aren’t you going to lay down with us?”

But then there will be lots of little boy hugs and snuggles with such warmth that even the blankets on a cold, rainy day couldn’t compare to!

Staying in Bed

Ever have one of those days where the weather is gloomy and cool, your alarm goes off too early! Your bed is nice and warm and you seem to have gotten the best sleep ever? Me too! And today I have nothing urgent to do and I have the excuse of working tonight, the kids are in school and at the babysitters and all I have to do today is SLEEP! It’s a wonderful life! …..now talk to me at 3am when I am working!