Summer is here...

...and with it come the three H's.

Hostility. Horrific boredom*. Hours of togetherness.

The girls are trying to get used to the idea of being home all day long...together. It's not an easy process, but I try to remember that it is a process. One of adjustment and change - not something that has come easy to eldest girl in the past, but which this year is proving to be even harder on middle girl. Maybe it's an age thing - those preschool years can be rough. You hear about two being a terrible time. And you foolishly think that once you get past those terrible twos that you are going to be on easy street. But, then you hit the trying threes and the mumble-fours (I don't dare use that word on such a family-friendly site). Middle girl seemed to sail through the two's and three's and the attitude and the boundary-pushing didn't rear its ugly head fully until four. She is nearing six and we don't yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. Except in our own little minds where the mantra that continues to hold is: this too shall pass...eventually.

Middle girl is usually, well....in the middle of the fights that have been popping up like a plague of weeds in a well-tended garden. The general chorus of the day is middle girl arguing that her little sister is taking toys away from her, following her around too much or making annoying noises
or that her big sister refuses to play with her and thus she has 'nothing to doooooo.' (Can you just feel the whine in the last part of that sentence?) The eldest and youngest have had their squabbles too, but those seem to be far fewer in number.

This weekend we tried to keep them busy - on Saturday, an afternoon trip to the site of their summer camp experience where we explored the grounds and went swimming, and on Sunday a trip to the movie theater to see Kung Fu Panda (very cute movie, btw) and a game of Monopoly (our latest family craze). There were times they were asked to 'find something to do' because I am not the parent who tries to fill her children's every waking hour with non-stop entertainment. I'm one of those mean moms who actually makes them go play with a room full of toys or enjoy a bit of fresh air and sunshine in our big grassy backyard complete with kiddie pool and wooden play structure - along with the toads, interesting bugs and butterflies. Personally, I want need some time now and again to get stuff done and have a bit of a break. But lately those "breaks" are frequently punctuated by repeated shrieks of "OW! stop it!" and "leave me alone!" and a variety of tattletale phrases.

I do realize this is the transition time between school and summer. A time that I have increasingly dreaded ever since eldest girl started going to school. Once they get into a rhythm things do go a lot smoother, but right now they need a constant referee to their insanity and I'm just ready to throw my striped shirt and whistle in the trash and head for the hills... Or maybe I should just follow Susan's advice and start my day with one of these (she emailed and let me know that they are great for brunch...how early can I realistically start my day and still call it brunch?) and a say a prayer that I can survive this latest transition.

After all, summer doesn't last forever...right?

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*The phrase "Horrific boredom" is a relative term which is defined in different ways by the author and her offspring.

My Exciting Life...

Forgive me as I blather on and on about this job situation. Life is so exciting at the moment that I feel the need to write about the mundane (look for the sarcasm).

Last Friday I called and left a message for the SPED Director. She was out of the office at a conference all day so I knew I would not hear back until this week. The secretary I spoke with on Friday suggested I email a copy of my resume to her to get the ball rolling. So, last night I sent her my resume and a quick cover letter. When I spoke with D at the workshop last week she let me know that an evaluation is scheduled for this Thursday and was hoping I could be "on board" by that time. I'm not holding my breath. I have childcare arranged for the whole day, just in case, but it might just end up being a very nice mental health day for me if things are not lined up by then. I have done all I can possibly do at this point and if they want to hire me it has to be their move. The ball's in their court. I'll be sure to update if I hear anything.

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This weekend pretty much sucked. E woke up at 3am on Saturday morning and puked all over her bed. She also had a fever of 101. Her hot, sick little bod spend all of Saturday laying on some towels on the floor with a bucket nearby. It was a relatively mild stomach bug all things considered but it had the audacity to arrive on the morning of what was supposed to be R's 8th birthday party with her friends (we had a family celebration on her birthday back in February). R was so excited when she woke up and then had her happiness dashed against the rocks when she found out about E's illness. She actually handled it as well as could be expected and I ended up taking the two older girls out to lunch and to the bookstore (R's favorite kind of store) for a little outing to make up for the lack of festivities.

The next night it was time to change the clocks and "spring ahead an hour" - this loss of an hour of sleep and E's continued illness and crabbiness compounded the sleep deprivation of the night before. She woke up almost every hour that night - at 3am I even moved into her room to try to comfort her but she kept crying out at random intervals. Sunday morning was not exactly welcomed with a smiling face. I did manage to get the older two off to church on time but it was not what I wanted to be doing. I knew they had to get to choir practice after church otherwise I think we would have probably skipped it this week.

This morning I got A off to preschool but realized when we got to the parking lot that I had left her lunch and her sneakers at home. Sigh. I got A into school and drove back to get her stuff. I was feeling annoyed with myself for forgetting the backpack which was sitting right by the back door. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I am the one that has to remember everything. And if anything gets forgotten it's MY fault. I think the sleep deprivation is getting to me. Whine, whine. Just tell me to shut up.

After dropping off A's backpack I took E to the grocery store (whee.) and we got a bunch of exciting stuff like eggs and bread and milk and blueberries (actually, I really was a little bit excited about the blueberries...). It's all put away now and almost time to go back and pick up A from school. But first I must get some lunch made for E and myself. No plans for the afternoon but I am hoping that E will take a nap and catch up on some sleep. Once R gets home we'll be heading off to the Y for swim class and Rick will hopefully have dinner ready soon after we get home (Note to Rick if he reads this: I bought ground beef at the store - are you up for making tacos or quesadillas tonight?).

See? Did I not say how exciting life is right now? Groceries. Drop-off/Pick-up from preschool. Swim class. The excitement really needs to slow down a bit so I can catch my breath. Phew.