home is where the hard is

although my day was rough, it wasn't nearly as terrible as my play-on-words title.

tuesdays are many things.  weekly tutoring meeting day.  wash-all-the-sheets day.  occasionally, election day.  and back-to-business day, because frankly, monday is usually more of a survival thing.

this tuesday was all it could possibly be.  i woke up feeling really disoriented.  that feeling lasted well into the morning when one of the tutors discovered me sitting semi-conscious in front of the laptop, earbuds half-in (i hate stuff in my ears), covered in powdered sugar (mouth, shirt, pants, etc.) and watching a middle-aged man lip synching to mariah carey.  in retrospect, this was actually one of the high points.

the low points went more like:

*  jacob has been refusing to say goodbye to me in the morning, instead preferring to say "thank you".  after extra prompting this morning, he modified it to "thank you, mrs. lippy".  it shouldn't bum me out, but sometimes, it does.

*  ragain's morning appointment turned into an all-morning-until-time-for-work appointment.  this was lame all by itself, but more lame because it meant no opportunity to run to the grocery store to get some child essentials.  apple juice = nectar of life, to lucas.

*  did i mention laundry?

*  i had to give compliance instructions to lucas for the better part of his morning shift.  this isn't hard, it's just time-consuming and vaguely disappointing since he only responded to 3 of my 9 directions.

*  the weekly tutoring meeting for lucas was geared toward familiarizing him with time-outs.  it's necessary, but setting your child up to get a time-out over and over again is rough.  especially when he has no idea why you're suddenly such a stickler about him listening to you the FIRST time you say something.  at first, he didn't seem that upset.  and it was sort of funny watching our director try to stay impartial as lucas kept saying, "why, martin? why?  let's play 'go play'.  martin.  martin.  why?"  but by the end, he looked exhausted and sad.  and i felt like a jerk.

*  lucas runs away from me when we walk out to the car to go pick the twins up from school.  he was still kind of anxious from the time-outs, and i couldn't really blame him for wanting to get away from me, but it freaked me out because i couldn't catch him right away.

*  the escape-attempt rattles me almost until i start crying, then i start the car and realize i'm out of gas.  mental expletives ensue.  crying almost erupts.  i settle down in time to not find a parking spot at the school.  (i thought people liked WALKING on nice days)

*  get kids.  get gas.  get milkshakes.  lucas conks out.  wake lucas.  balance milkshakes.  herd boys and backpacks inside.  direct shoe placing, hand washing, backpack hanging, get shorts for isaac who hates to wear pants any longer than required, grab homework folders, sort paperwork, choose incentives and pull boys to the table.

*  homework.  kids hate it.  i hate it.  we sit in front of it for 2 hours.

*  tutors come and leave, taking their delightful iphone apps before jacob can earn them.  this results in an inconsolable jacob.  luckily, isaac was right there to write the note in the photo (above) and stick it in jacob's face to end the sobbing.  shockingly, this tactic failed.

*  dinner, showers, nail care, new sheets on beds, chocolate mousse for dessert (eaten by 1, declared disgusting by others), vitamins, melatonin, book, prayer, lights out.

*  more laundry.  dinner for me- bag of kettle corn.


now, because i hate to leave things on a bad note, i will tell you...

k brought me a jamba juice and didn't laugh when i showed her my future craft projects.  


lucas and i eventually made up.


isaac listed the virtues of wal-mart during dinner.  hint: toys, candy, food and underwear.


jacob hugged me extra tight when i picked him up from school.  then he hugged lucas.  i guess he could tell we both needed a hug.

***tomorrow is the first official walk meeting of 2011!***