The Good, the Bad, and the Mustard

The day was going swell. I had gone to bed before 10:00, and here it was 6:30 and Khyah was barely waking me up.

London wandered in to ask where daddy was. I told him "at work" and London was horrified: "In the nighttime?!"

Brandt wandered in crying, holding out a clean shirt to change him. I couldn't hold Khyah's bottle and change his shirt so I asked him to climb onto the bed, which he obligingly did. I pulled the shirt off - yep, definitely wet. Leaky diaper most likely, I thought. "Brandt, we'd better take that diaper off before we put your new shirt on."

And that, my friends, is where my day took a sudden turn.

"Poopy?! No wait, Brandt, don't . . . ." Too late. Poopy all over the bed.

In haste, I lay Khyah down and propped up her bottle, then ran for the wipes. Fortunately we contained it quickly. But the tone of the morning was set.

We couldn't get everything done. London insisted on being helped to get dressed. Brandt really wasn't feeling good. "There are bees in my tummy, mommy!" And I used poor judgment in deciding to fold the kids clothes while I got them dressed.

Took a quick shower, pulled Kyhah from bed to change her, and noticed the poopy on her blanket (happily, before I cuddled her close). Took care of my second poopy emergency of the day, and my good sense kicked in. "London, you get to buy lunch today! Lucky you!"

"I need to go potty, mommy!" Brandt and I ran, and we made it, but he jumped off the toilet before I could wipe. Diarrhea is not fun. I cleaned up my third poopy mess of the day.

We hurried down the stairs and tumbled into the car (because walking with a little boy who has diarrhea is surely a bad idea I told myself).

"Traffic is ALWAYS bad in the morning on this street," London counseled me as we sat in the long line waiting to turn left (as though he's ever been on that road in the morning). Note to self, don't drive to school.

Back home, another long project at work arrived (which is a blessing, of course, but still, it adds to the chaos). Brandt spilled a glass of water all over his (newly made) bed. The mustard exploded on me when I opened it. London's teacher informed me that today was a "rough day" for him. And to top it off, Count Dooku's light saber snapped in two!

And as I was writing this blog in my mind, I thought, "Is it just me, or are all my blogs focused on the bad things that happen?" I must be the most negative person ever. And I wondered to myself if I might have any positive experiences from the day.

And there they were: Brandt holding my hand and saying, "I love you too much, mommy!" Him playing trains and narrating the story: "Bust my buffers!" Smiles and hugs from all my kids. And wouldn't you know it, even the bad things I'd been through were pretty funny. In fact, they're the stuff that memories are made of. They're the spice of life, without which, I might be bored to tears (though a little boredom never hurt anyone, did it?)

And I wondered if maybe I'm not the only one who does this. We focus on the negative, never seeing the many positive things that surround us at the same time. Life weaves the good with the bad, and if we have the right eyes, life is more beautiful because of it.

In short, for all my whining, I love my life!

Kindergarten!

School started this past week. London did a month of summer Kindergarten in Missouri back in June, but now it's official. He has been going to school a full week. We walk together and say goodbye at the door. He gives me a hug and a kiss, repeats it for Brandt. (By day 3, I had to remind him). Then he strides in the door with a big smile. Confident. Excited. Guess I can't ask for much more.

He got new shoes, which he loves to tell people about. "Ta da! Look at my new yellow shoes!" (They're blue and silver with a little bit of yellow lining).

And he got a few shirts. His star wars shirt is his favorite, though. I gave him the lecture: "No light saber fights at school! Got it?" "Ye-e-s, Mom. I got it," he droned. Where'd that droopy kid voice come from? You'd think I lecture him all the time or something. And you all can just stop laughing! ;)

He brags that now he only has 2 days off a week, just like Daddy (which isn't actually true, since Daddy only gets one, but that's a different story).

When we head home at the end of the day, little girls call out to him, "London! Bye!" London barely notices because he's so busy giving me a run down of the day. Yesterday (Monday), he told me, "I had art today, and guess what Mom, we go to art every Monday. Isn't that exciting?!" (I heard his teacher repeat the word "exciting" several times at back-to-school night, so at least I know he's listening.)

After the first day, he told me he had a new friend and wanted me to call him so they could play. "What's his name?" I ask. "Umm, I don't remember. But you could call him." Ri-i-i-ight.

The next day he was more excited. "Remember that friend I was telling you about? His name is Solomon. Now can you call him?" "I need a phone number to call him, London, and I don't know it." London was very disappointed. "Why, mom? Why don't you know it?" So I told him it's because I'm not clairvoyant. That one took him awhile.

Happy day, though, we got his number at back-to-school night. Turns out his mom speaks very little English. Fortunately she is a Spanish speaker instead of something like Urdu. Sure, you laugh, but there are enough Urdu speakers at his school to warrant translation via head-set at back-to-school night. Lucky London!

Oh, and it turns out Monday is short day. Woops. Fortunately we didn’t go to the library like Brandt wanted.

London loves school!

Though one might guess he's pointing at his teacher, he's actually asking me which way to go. It's the other way. :)

Ready to go! The Kindergarteners meet in the gym in the morning and walk to class as a group. Look at him stand at attention!