Mistakes

After 3 months of no posts, the expectation (in my head) of a come back post seems kind of daunting. My day was much like any other day. But this is what life is made up of. A lot of regular plain old days run together into a life. And in my life, I make lots of mistakes. Some are REALLY big and serious; most are just dumb; some are expensive; and some I actually learn from.

My kids go back to school tomorrow. And I'm pretty sad about it. While there has been plenty of yelling and fighting and mess making, we have enjoyed LOTS of company (who may or may not ever come back to see us because Iowa is stupid, or at least most of the states between us and them are stupid). We have been to the pool lots with tans to prove it. We've been to the library and the lake and the mall and the park. Gaby learned to ride a 2 wheeler, lost some teeth and got her ears pierced. We did swim team (hear the angels singing?) and I coached. We waited and waited and waited for Jerry's work thingie to arrive; the thingie that prevented us from going anywhere and making any plans. And it finally showed up, last week. Now we won't see him until Oct 12th-ish. We entertained family - Alyssa, Mike, Emma and Squishy, Scott, Christy, Zach and Ty, Matt, Deb, Mason and Chaser, Holli, Shelia, Isaac, Ben and Eli. And it was all so fun.

The insanity returns tomorrow as I brace myself for all those things that I signed everyone up for. Soccer, piano, voice, show choir, Girl Scouts, book cart, preschool, volunteering. Mostly I think a lot about how I have a junior this year. She'll be 16 in a few weeks. I keep asking my friends who have kids going off to college, how do you do this? I know I have to enjoy the time that's left, but my thoughts are occupied by wondering how I'll survive when a little piece of me is out in the big wide world. And then I think have I made the most of my plain old regular days? Will all the good I've tried to do outweigh all the mistakes I've made?

In celebration of our end of summer days, I took all four kids on a whirlwind day of errands! Sounds thrilling, doesn't it? It was delightful in all the many ways that shopping with 4 kids can be. Well, this would be the first mistake in a line of many. You would think after having 4 children I would have learned from some of my previous mistakes. This post will illustrate that I clearly am an idiot.

MISTAKE #1 - thinking I can do a marathon of errands with 4 kids in tow

Started off with haircuts for Gaby and Lydia. Just a quick trim, no appointment. We walked in, no wait, both girls done in less than 15 minutes with exactly what I asked for. The errand gods were on my side today! But wait, what's that, Lydia looks sad. Nope not so much sad that her ponytail is a stub of it's former self, she's angry.

MISTAKE #2 - giving the kids a choice in lunch venues

Next stop the library. On the very first day of summer vacation I took Owen and his friend and a neighbor to the library. Despite the voice in my head that cautioned me to not take out books for the kiddos, I went ahead and did it anyway. Long story short, "Stink and the Super Gigantic Gallatic Jawbreaker" was never seen again. I kept renewing it thinking it would turn up. On Saturday I decided to just pay for it. This morning, neighbor shows up, hey I found the book! Yay, the library book gods are on my side today! I even got the full refund. The crucial flaw in the library stop; however, was mentioning that lunch could be at one of two places. NEVER give your kids a choice, people. Seriously, what was I thinking.

Panera gift card AND free burgers and french fries from Burger King in my wallet. Of course, Lydia wants Panera, everyone else votes for BK. Lydia's anger escalates.

MISTAKE #3 - leaving items/stuff/crap out in plain view that is going to be donated/sold/thrown away

Next stop Goodwill. I've been stashing stuff all over the house for this big yard sale I was going to have and raise lots of money and use for the 3Day. Silly me! I've had it with stuff in boxes and I hate yard sales, having them and going to them. Included in this Goodwill drop off was a fake fur coat, think Narnia, which Taylor wore for Halloween '06 and a Fisher Price Little People Farm. Both items have been out of circulation for 7-8 months. Lydia has a tendency to be very attached to things, so I really should use more caution when it's time to purge. The farm about did her in, folks. There were tears and even some bodily harm. But we worked through it and moved on with the rest of our fun filled day.

MISTAKE #4 - eating at Burger King

From there things turned around, which is surprising considering I took all 4 kids to the mall. We hit Claires, the playground, American Eagle and Aeropostale where Owen entertained himself by using ALL the bangles on display as handcuffs.

MISTAKE #5 - not making time for me

Next stop Home Depot. I could write a whole post dedicated to why we needed to go to Home Depot in the first place, but I'll just say that the website that said it would take 2 minutes to fix a leaky faucet was wrong AND the the universal tub spout is not exactly universal. Return - check, Channel Lock wrench - check, faucets ... Wait a minute. When was the last time I went to the bathroom? I think I've had to pee since 8am. Potty dancing 4 year olds are one thing. A potty dancing 35 year old in Home Depot's faucet isle is embarrassing for all. At one point I turned to Taylor and made a really funny face and said not so quietly, "I think I'm going to pee my pants!" Only to glance over and make eye contact with the elderly Home Depot guy standing by the kitchen. Yay me!

MISTAKE #6 - becoming overconfident in my mad multi-tasking skillz

We made it home in one piece. Went to the pool for a last day of summer huzzah. Stood in line for 25 minutes to jump in a bounce house for 3. Dunked a lifeguard in a dunking booth, successfully avoided the wide angle lens of the TV News crew, showered and made it Back to School night Open House by 6pm. Met the new teachers, dropped off supplies, indulged in ice cream cups, brownies and other high fructose corn syrup delights. Returned home, teeth brushed, clothes laid out, prayers said, lights out! Last year on the eve of back to school, I nearly burned down our house by leaving chicken charring on the stove. This year I failed to make any dinner at all.