So I've had a chance to update the current statuses of the Three Reed Sweet Peas...now it's time to tell the stories that I know I'll look back on and say, "What in the world?" Put on your seatbelts folks, it's time for a ride.
Imagine a put-together looking mother walking out of a preschool with her fun-loving toddlers. The girls are obediently holding onto the stroller of their little sister, who is cooing happily in her carseat, as the mother, who has an angelic look of content, looks down on her brood.
Now, take that image and envision the exact OPPOSITE. Because THAT is the picture that more accurately depicts the events of the last couple days.
Yesterday morning was rushed as usual, compounded by the fact that Miss Megan is currently going through a phase where she takes off her clothes down to her diaper whenever she gets the chance. Her timing seems to coincide with the moments when we most need to be loaded into the car and on our way. I manage to get her clothes on her, and put her immediately into her carseat where she is strapped in and can do little more to make us even later. We pull into the preschool, get everyone dropped off to their classrooms, and I am off with Lauren to do some errands. It was a lovely morning!
Unfortunately, I needed to wake Lauren from a deep sleep in order to go and pick up her sisters. Lauren was pretty upset, and despite burping her, her cries seemed to escalate. There was nothing I could do to console her, and we needed to be on our way. Lauren cried, and didn't stop. On our way in, as Lauren wailed at the top of our lungs, I put my head into Nicole's classroom and asked her to put on her coat. My goal was to get in and out as fast as possible! I told her to meet me in Megan's room which was 10 steps down the hall. Nicole immediately started crying, and making a scene, for whatever the reason. Lauren's cries have now reached earsplitting proportions, Nicole is crying her eyeballs out and holding onto my pants, and I need to retrieve Megan from her classroom. The Reeds are here!
The director of the pre-school program hears the clatter, and comes to take Nicole to help me out. I hear her coax Nicole off my leg, and I am in action getting Megan's coat on her and grabbing her things. When Lauren, Megan and I get to Nicole's classroom, Nicole is standing in the hallway with her arms folded across her chest as the director and her teacher are trying to get her to put on her coat. My head was exploding at this point, and I quietly but with eyes that I'm sure said it all, told her to "get that coat on." Nicole goes immediately into the "ugly cry." Now Lauren is at a fever pitch, Nicole is ugly crying, and Megan decides this is the time to test boundaries and refuses to hold the stroller as we walk. The director suggests that I leave the kids to bring the car around, but I thank her with sheer mortification, and walk the whole mess to the parking lot.
Megan stays about 15 paces behind us despite my coaxing, Nicole is really ugly crying because I told her that she must give up her special butterfly necklace until tomorrow after she apologizes to Heidi and her teacher, and Lauren the hornet is in attack mode. The hat I wore because my hair was an utter travesty is now falling half down my face as I trudge with the sorriest brood you ever want to see back to our car.
I was exhausted. And so were Nicole and Megan who slept for three hours.
The next morning, as the snow is flying, and we are desperately trying to get out the door to make our carpool on time, Megan decides to take off her clothes. That was IT. I got out the duct tape. Now before you think child services, I used the duct tape as "suspenders" over her clothes (think Buzz Lightyear) to teach her that she must keep her clothes on her body. I put her immediately into her coat, and get her into her carseat before she can do any more to make us late.
Nicole dutifully apologizes to the director and her teacher. Both tell me how bad they felt for me the day before, and how they don't know how I do it, etc., etc. Heidi looks at me with kind, sympathetic eyes, and asks me how I am doing. I demure that I am doing well, and that it's a lot of work, but I am managing so it's all good, when Megan unzips her coat revealing her duct taped outfit. Heidi's eyes go from me, to Megan, and then back to me, at which point I explain the reasons behind the duct tape. Oh...my...gosh.
I head back to the car with Megan and Lauren and see that I have a note on my car. It says, "I found your car keys on the ground. Heidi has them." Seriously? I use a valet key in the morning to heat up the car, and use my regular set to lock up the house when we leave. I put my regular set in my pocket, then put the valet key in my pocket when I went to get the kids out of carseats, and then I pulled my regular set to lock the car as we headed into school. The valet key must have fallen out as I pulled out my regular set of keys. I pull up to the school, and run into Heidi's office where she is printing out a sign to explain that a key has been turned into her. So now I have to explain why I'm throwing car keys on the ground. In my mind I was thinking, "she thinks I'm coming undone." And then I knew that was the case when she hugged me on my way out.
Nobody told me that motherhood would be so humbling which is why I am happy to pass these stories along to my little Reed Trio. Paybacks are tough, girls.
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