Waiting for the Weekend?

It's raining! Yes! The kids are outside with their raincoats and boots (all except Susie, who is protesting the boot concept), checking out all the puddles. And I'm inside, with the door locked (just kidding). Peaceful, that's what it is in here - downright peaceful. Ahhhh........

Susie just had a moment of severe panic - she couldn't find her arm. It was somewhere inside her dress, but she didn't know that. And it was hard to help her fix it, because she was so distraught and I was laughing so hard. It's hard being 2 years old, you know. Reminds me of when Brian was 4 and couldn't get through the day without some sort of weird crisis - like the time he dropped his pants in the potty. That sort of thing doesn't happen much to grown-ups. So the next time you think your day is difficult, remember poor Susie and her missing arm.

I was felled by a severe migraine (severe, as in, if I could have found an ax, I would have chopped my own head off) last night, leaving Larry to supervise the post-dinner clean-up, read the bedtime stories, brush the teeth, and handle the zillion and one crises that tend to occur between dinner and bedtime. Then he arose at 7 this morning so that he could stand in line at DMV before it opens so that he can renew his driver's license. Yes, he's having a great weekend so far....why do you ask?

And now I'm planning to ask him for the afternoon off to go scrapbooking - poor guy. But I'm sure he'll get me back tomorrow, by embarking on some household renovation project that will require half the day in Home Depot and the other half rummaging around the utility room looking for stuff he needs. We do try to torture each other equally - this is, after all, a modern marriage.

Maybe I should go feed somebody - they're starting to forage for food that may have been dropped on the floor. I'm suffering breakfast fatigue lately - oatmeal, oatmeal, oatmeal, cold cereal, oatmeal, oatmeal, bagels, oatmeal.....we used to do scrambled eggs sometimes, but no one has a stomach for them after Susie's recent vomiting incident outside the science museum. Breakfast ideas, anyone?

Straitjacket Saturday

Like that title? I think it's sort of catchy. And I'm certainly ready for one.

Today is Saturday, so I got to sleep in - I mean, if that's what you call lying in bed from 5:30 to 6:30 with the toddler climbing back and forth over you and leaning her elbows in those spaces between your ribs. Larry had to work today, so I wasn't exactly jumping out of bed with excitement over its being the weekend. As a matter of fact, I've been keeping the neighbor's 7-year-old girl hostage all afternoon, just to keep some of my kids amused (heaven forbid my kids should just play with each other, you know).

It's in the 90's here once again (I know, I know, but I just can't get over it, it's September, okay?) and it hasn't rained in ages (as in, I can't even find the kids' rain boots at this point), but there is a coastal flood warning for tonight anyway. I don't get that. Something to do with high tides and new moons. I didn't know those sort of things mattered anymore, what with technology and all. I mean, it sounds downright quaint. Farmers' Almanac, anyone?

Anna went out in public with me and the younger kids yesterday and didn't even die of embarrassment. In fact, she was downright pleasant; she even smiled at her siblings during the ordeal. I can't imagine what brought that on, unless maybe it was the above-mentioned astronomical/nautical phenomena. I'm glad she's not acting possessed, as Larry and I plan to go out tonight. For all you women who want to know how to get your husband to take you out, it's simple. Just make a dinner that the kids love and that he hates. Works like a charm. And it's not as if I'm hard to please. As long as it's not the Dollar Menu at McDonalds, I'm happy. Well, once Larry blew it (see http://suburbancorrespondent.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html for details), but I've forgiven him. Sort of.

School? Oh, yes, well, we've been plugging slowly along. All except Rachel, that is, who is taking about a month to whip through kindergarten before she sinks her teeth into 1st grade. I told Brian (2nd grade) to get the lead out - she's gonna need his books soon. I'm just glad that she is bending her formidable will and clever brain to something constructive this year. Another fall of sabotaged toilets and decapitated stuffed animals I could not handle. Anyone who does not know what I am talking about, check out the favorites column on the left. All the gory details are in there somewhere.