Thanks Mom

I remember my mother saying to me, “You’ll appreciate me for this one day. Just remember this when you have the choice to send me to a retirement home or take me in.” I of course always told her I would be sending her to a retirement home! Oh how now I wish I could eat most of my words I said as an annoying teenager. The last few days have been rough for me. We are packing the house and getting it ready to go on the market. That is stressful enough but add an infant and a toddler and we’ve been burning the candle at both ends. This morning I woke up and I actually felt drunk and dizzy because I was so tired. It took us over an hour just to cook Cooper’s food for the day and we barely had a moment to get the diaper bags ready or any food for us for our trip to Annapolis, MD. (Cooper is seeing an allergy specialist there.) We were running late speeding down the road when I realized that I had forgotten to put on a bra!! Yes my dear friends and family for the first time I can remember since I started wearing a bra I went without in public! Jim offered to turn around but I didn’t want to be late. As we are driving, mercifully Sullivan goes to sleep without the screaming fit he usually does in the car. What kid do you know that hates the car? (Every other car trip up until today has been a crying fit where Sullivan would cry hard and be so scared he would be bright red and have tears! An hour trip to the store turns into 3 because I have to keep stopping to soothe him.) I am trying to keep Cooper entertained with this purple caterpillar called Alphabet Pal. He’s screaming at me so I decide to use the mode where is makes the sounds of the letters of the alphabet to make dirty words. If I can hit all the legs in the right way it’s quite funny. This bores Cooper and he falls asleep and I breathe a sigh of relief I can finally take a nap myself. I close my eyes and start to relax. Just as I can feel sleep starting to take over I realize I have to pee. I have to pee so bad that I can’t sleep through it and I can’t ask Jim to stop because we are running late. So I sit up and will cars to get out of our way.

The doctor appointment was odd. Last week we loved the whole entire experience. This time the room was boiling hot, Cooper refused to sit down and take the treatment, we were asked to keep it down for the other sleeping patients. Cooper’s answer was to scream louder whereas before at least it was just loud laughter. We leave all sweaty, irritable, hungry and wouldn’t you know we get stuck in traffic. I feed Cooper and then finally make something for Jim and I. Unfortunately I spill most of it all over myself and the car. Who knows when I’ll have the chance to clean that up! At this point I’m starting to feel pretty sorry for myself. This past week I’ve been peed and pooped on more than I can count. I think it was just yesterday that Sullivan peed on me not once but twice and so badly that he soaked the couch, my pant leg, and yes my underwear. Jim came running as he heard me screaming, “nooooooooooo” and trying to deflect the pee with the wrong side of the diaper. I cried, I swear I couldn’t help it. Here I am again half dressed and covered in pee. I am so tired of being peed and pooped on. Cooper has thrown out all of our Tupperware lids so we have lots of dishes but no lids. Very annoying when you are in a hurry and all you need is one damn lid. If you can’t find something in our house it means Cooper has found it and either put it in a box or it’s in the trash can. I had that dreaded thought. I even said it out loud, “I hope these boys appreciate what we’ve gone through for them.” I say that and I know all the parents with older kids are probably shaking their heads knowing that I haven’t experienced anything yet. More than anything I find myself wanting to call my mom and apologize for not being more appreciative of all she went through to raise me. Thanks Mom I do appreciate all you’ve done for me!