every now and then, there are just days where they get the best of me. today was one of those days. it was a sunny day - which have been rare around here (apparently the weather has been uncharacteristically bad this year). i was excited because the moms' group was meeting at the zoo in two groups, 10 and 12:30. since naps are at 1, i opted for the 10am meet up.
i set my alarm so that i could shower and start getting together our picnic lunch for the zoo. madelyn started the day out a little cranky, but we had a decent morning and were ready for the zoo on time. we loaded up and headed out. we got to the zoo about 9:45 and went to the predetermined meeting spot. now i had heard that there were some school groups going today, but i was not at all prepared for how many! there must have been more than 20 groups that came in the first 15 minutes we were there. and then there were more! by 10:15 we couldn't just stand and wait any more - the crowd was too thick.
we took some pictures by the penguins while we were waiting. madelyn stuck her arms through and mason had to try too - he couldn't quite fit the way she could.
madelyn had been whining the entire 30 minutes too. "where is the moms' group?" "there are too many people!" "it is too crowded!" "mom, i want to wait for the mom's group." over and over and over.
what you might not know is that being alone in a crowd gives me anxiety. malls used to freak me out (and still do sometimes). i am fine as long as i am with someone, but alone i can freak out. with madelyn's whining, my tension was already raising. and then mason stepped one step into the crowd. i grabbed madelyn to the stroller and told her not to move and made a run for it. i was practically shoving people out of my way to get to mason. (it probably didn't help that i am reading deep end of the ocean which is about a three-year-old going missing in a crowd or that losing one of the kids is matt's number one fear when we are out in public.)
and that was when i buckled mason into the stroller and decided that we weren't waiting any more.
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| i did let mason out at one of the kids area. it was so sweet that two older girls held up the line at the rope bridge so that mason could cross very, very slowly. |
it took us about 30 minutes to get as far into the zoo as would normally take us 5 minutes and that was with skipping several exhibits (there were actual lines waiting to see the animals). i decided that with my anxiety and not seeing the animals anyway, that we would just leave and take our picnic lunch to the park instead. unfortunately, madelyn couldn't stop whining and we ended up going home. i was kind of bummed because it is a lot of work to get everything together to eat lunch away from home, but madelyn was acting like she hadn't slept in a week - so much whining and crying.
this was also a day maggie (our dog) had diarrhea. this has been an ongoing problem since we moved in. we think that it is something in the apartment - maybe the water. normally, matt takes her out before he leaves in the morning and then again when he gets home at night. we have to walk her to certain spots to do her business and it is difficult for me to do it during the day because i have to bring all three kids and there are not sidewalks and cars are constantly coming and going. anyway, when she has diarrhea i take her down across from the driveway for less than two minutes when her crying gets to the point where she can't hold it any more. today way a very bad day for her. i had to run her down twice during lunch. i got the boys down for their naps and got madelyn situated for me to have a meeting. about 15 minutes into my one hour meeting, both boys woke up (1-2 hours earlier than normal) screaming! i excused myself from the meeting, got mason settled, and called back.
once my meeting was over i came out and smelled it - maggie had pooped in her cage (for the second time that day). not only that but (beware of graphic detail following) it was projectile on the wall!! so i put maggie in the garage and went to get maddux who was still crying in his crib. once i got maddux settled and the other two fed their snacks, i went to take care of cleaning up maggie's mess. and then i headed down to get maggie - who had now pooped in the garage!! i put her in her cage and cleaned up the garage.
thankfully, the rest of the afternoon was mildly better. mason and maddux played trucks.
madelyn saw me taking pictures of maddux and went to pose with (on) him. it was cuter in real life than i could capture on film. i kept missing them both smiling and looking at the camera.
and since madelyn did it, mason had to do it too. i couldn't get both boys to smile at the same time. but i am so optimistic about professional photos in a few weeks (6-month, 2-year, and 4-year).
here is another video of the kids just being themselves. i was trying to get maddux getting up on all fours and doing a very serious plank pose, but instead got a real quick plank pose, a sample of madelyn's whining attitude, madelyn arguing with maddux about not being funny (he was laughing at her), and mason's excellent listening. enjoy!
when matt sent me a text saying that he was headed home from his all-day, off-site meeting, i told him that i was done and he needed to bring home dinner. i didn't care what, i just couldn't cook (every pot in the house - 2 - were still dirty because i didn't quite get around to cleaning up the kitchen with everything else). it really wasn't a tough day, it just kept my stress level so high that i was utterly exhausted! love.
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