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Whiners

I have a problem with whiners. As a mom of five plus two, I've put up with a lot of whining over the years. I've learned to tune a lot of it out. Sometimes I'll address it in a not so normal way; depending on what the whine is about. The following are actual conversations:

Whiner: "It's not fair! How come bla bla bla?"

Me: "Because I love *** more than you today."

This is followed by an open mouth stare. But hey, it stops the whining!

(And yes, my kids know I love them, so don't think too ill of me!)

Whiner: "Why do I have to bla bla bla?"

Which is usually followed by me with, "Why do I have to bla bla bla?"

They stop, because they know I can come up with more than they can!

There are many times, of course, when I will simply suggest that I can adjust their attitudes if they'd like me to.

The two youngest are the worst! Whine combing hair; whine brushing teeth; whine making their beds. Whine, whine, whine!

Even the dumb dog is whining this week! Joey drives me nuts. I'll admit it. When we first picked out the dogs, he was hiding. We waited forever to see him. I should have walked out while I had the chance. But, I had three children and a grandma looking at me with those pitiful faces and we went home with two pups that day instead of one.

Roxy could care less if Joey is around, but Joey can't handle it. It's even worse now that she is in heat and I have them separated. He seriously has not stopped crying for days and won't eat. (Actually, he finally ate a bit yesterday after several non-eating days. I wasn't too worried though, because if food drops on the floor, he bee-lines for it!) He's whining so much that we've had to move him to the garage! And I can still hear him. The only time he stops whining is if he thinks I'm going to let him near her. NOT!

The worst of the whining is in my head! I am absolutely, without a doubt, stir crazy! I am tired of being bed-ridden/couch-ridden. I try hard not to cry, but sometimes, it gets the best of me. (I'm sure the added hormones for healing are not helping). I'm tired of being in pain. I'm tired of not being able to sit and not hurt; stand and not hurt.

Yesterday was bad, too. I had to attend a meeting and the elevator was broke, which meant I had to walk up two flights of stairs and then sit on a pillow on a hard chair for two hours. By the time I got home I could barely move.

And then, I didn't particularly care that I have to deal with things longer than I want to deal with them. I wanted to scream, "I'm tired, God! How much more?"

And then, my eldest informed me that he won't be spending Easter with us because he has other plans. Which I understand, but it's been rough so far this year, and I really wanted my family with me this Easter. And it sucks that he is getting older and is making his own plans that don't' include his family.

And then…well, my wound was a mess last night.

And I cried and cried and cried. And hubby came in, and I whined and whined and whined.

Poor man.

I can't stand whiners.

Especially when the whiner is me.

So, this morning, when the Drama Queen came in whining, I just had her crawl in bed with me, told her I loved her, and cuddled with her for a bit.

Sometimes we just need a hug.

(Please excuse me now; I have to go take care of a whiner…stop laughing.)

Hide-n-Seek

I'm sick and tired of seeing doctors. Really. I'm tired of waiting rooms and being told to be patient and take it easy and let myself recover. It's been 5 weeks already for goodness sake! I don't want to be told it will take 14 to 16 more weeks, or even a few more weeks. I don't want to be told to stay off the stairs and stay on the couch or my bed. Who wants to spend their time laying around all the time!?!

And I was dreading this morning's appointment, too.

But then, as we sat and waited, I watched this dark haired little girl with an orange balloon playing in a little cubby while her mommy waited to see the doctor. She was so cute; about three. And then, another mommy showed up with a little red haired girl about the same age. And the dark haired cutie asked,

"You wanna pway wif me?"

And the red haired girl says,

"Yeah!"

I sat there and chuckled at their three year old conversation. It's been a long time since I've had one that young! And then, the dark haired girls asked,

"Do you wanna pway hide en seek?"

"Yeah!" was the reply.

So the dark haired girl had the red haired girl count. And she was so cute, with her head against the wall, counting in her little girl voice while the dark haired girl raced across the waiting room with her orange balloon!

And I was reminded of times when my own children hid.

I remember when my oldest, now 22, was about the same age. Grandma was watching him and she called me in a panic one day. She had looked everywhere for him and couldn't find him anywhere. This went on forever; until she discovered him hiding under the organ bench, giggling while she frantically searched for him.

Or when my youngest, not even two, was our little Houdini. One day we were all sitting in the living room watching TV. On my way into the kitchen, I asked them all not to let her out of their sight. When I walked back into the living room, she was gone. Just…like…that.

No one had seen her move. We searched the house; searched outside. Searched the garage. We searched up and down the streets. And just when we frantically ran inside to call 911, I happened to catch a glimpse of her little lime green outfit. Behind her doll stroller. She was all tucked up under; watching; giggling. Hiding.

Or B-boo. Who was a climber. So much so, that at 10 months, we had to zip her into her crib. You can read about that here. Anyway, by the time she was about 18 months, she could climb anything. And I mean anything! I'd find her *hiding* on top of our 8 ft tall entertainment center! One day, I found her hiding on top of the refrigerator. She wasn't so much about hiding, I think, as about climbing. Until she could climb no more. We couldn't let her out of our sight, because we never knew where we'd find her!

And then there was the Smart One. He didn't do a lot of *physical* hiding, but he loved to hide under bowls. As in if he wasn't wearing them as a hat, he'd hide his face under them. Under blankets. He thought he was so cute. (So did we!)

And the Talented One. I remember him hiding his face in his hands, knowing that if he couldn't see us, we couldn't see him. We'd laugh and go along with it.

So, I guess the waiting room wasn't so bad today. I had the privilege of being taken back in time; somehow how finding those memories that had been hidden up until this morning.

Quirkiness

This morning as B-boo was in search of whipped topping, I had to laugh. You see, each morning, she has a cup of hot chocolate with whipped topping and usually a bagel with cream cheese. She's willing to eat other things for breakfast, but do NOT mess with her whipped topping. Which brings us back to last night really. Hubby had to go to the store and so I asked him to get more whipped topping because I didn't want B-boo to run out. I know she'll flip if she gets up and finds none. She just can't start her day out without it. Or the chocolate.

For the most part, her chocolate is left alone. No one else seems to have the fancy for it that she does. We're talking Ghiradelli hot chocolate. Good stuff. And whipped topping.

So hubby purchases two whipped toppings, only to find out there was already one in the freezer, bring us up to three in the freezer because there was a hidden one, no TWO in the fridge. Except, one was empty and the other almost. Which of course, threw her into a panic, because that meant she might not have whipped topping for her chocolate! But, Dad to rescue, he showed her how he'd stocked up just for her.

And speaking of chocolate, the Smart One doesn't like the good stuff; he only likes the Nestle or Swiss stuff, mixed with milk instead of water. I think he's loopy, but he leaves B-boo's chocolate alone, so it works. What he likes is the gluten free waffles. Don't let him run out, because his morning preference is a waffle sandwich. This means, waffle, egg, sausage patty, cheese, waffle. He will go without the sausage, but he prefers to have the sandwich. He also prefers certain socks for his feet. They have to fit, just right. This is really important to him.

And the Talented One; you have to make sure his bagel is completely covered with cream cheese. If he sees bagel, he'll put more cream cheese on it. He's quirky in other ways, too. For instance, he doesn't like to have his hands dirty; and please don't ask him to touch raw meat. And don't touch his hair. And he likes his own bed. Always has. As an infant, he'd stay up until placed in his crib; then he'd fall asleep. To this day, he rarely does overnights because he likes his bed.

I can't blame him for that one, though. I like my own bed, too. And my pillows have to be placed a certain way or I can't sleep. And I don't like to crawl into a bed with wrinkled sheets. If my bed is unmade for any reason, I have to make it before I can crawl into it. I know, they probably get their quirkiness from me!

The only one that seems to have no real quirkiness is the Drama Queen! She's our flipperty jibbet who just goes along for the ride! She'll sleep anywhere, eat just about anything (as long as she's not allergic to it!), and doesn't always care about what she's wearing.

The only one that is even more so than her is Chicken Noodle Butt. He'll eat anything. Sometimes hubby likes to have fun with him to see how far he'll go. As in chocolate on rice mixed with ketchup and who knows what else. The joke is if no one wants it, give it to Chicken Noodle Butt. His only "quirkiness" is his calendar. He lives by that calendar! Don't mess with it; don't argue with it. 

And then…there's hubby. I'm not sure I can even go there. I'd have to say his "real" quirkiness is his feeling for food. As in, if he doesn't feel like eating it, he won't. If he's not in the mood for it, he'd rather just not eat. What a funny man. I laugh when he stands in front of a full fridge, looking for something, but finding nothing that he is in the "mood" for. You gotta love him.

Our poor kids don't stand a chance at normalness.

Mothers/Daughters

This weekend, B-boo is out of town. I was supposed to be on this trip with our youth, but because of my recent illness, I'm stuck at home in bed instead.

But I miss her. I've been thinking a lot lately about how close we are. I sometimes wonder if it's a one-sided view, but I don't think so. I'm thinking the phone calls have proved that. B-boo and I have spent a lot of one on one time together. She is fiercely protective of me; my illness has definitely had an impact on her. She's been a wonderful nurse to me and I am so glad she went on this trip without me.

But I miss her. As a competitive gymnasts for four years, she traveled a lot. And so I traveled with her. We had plenty of time to build a relationship. When she quit, I was so sad that we would not take these trips anymore. And then she got sick. And instead of waiting in an airport or bonding in a hotel, we spent many hours in the waiting room of doctor after doctor. Yahtzee on my cell phone in the waiting rooms became routine. Movies and conversations in my bedroom while she recovered from surgeries brought us even closer.

And now, party planning and house cleaning and Wednesday nights with chocolate; all of these keep our relationship going. So yes, I miss her.

And I was telling hubby yesterday as I received a text from her letting us know she was ok; that I can only hope to have the same relationship with the Drama Queen as I have with B-boo. I wonder; because the Drama Queen has such a hold on her relationship with her Daddy. And that is ok, I understand her being Daddy's Girl.

She is such a ball of fire and ready to take off at any given minute. She is so different from B-boo. Tonight, we talked about her continuing to home school while I gave her a french manicure. She wanted me to take her to have one; I couldn't do that, but I could give her one myself. She was thrilled! And we talked about the things we could do and places we can go and the fun we can have.

Yes, she is different. She has different ideas and needs and wants. But I found out tonight, that I am definitely in the running. When it comes to the fun girl stuff and talking and laughing, she wants that with me.

So, while I miss B-boo terribly this weekend; I am using the time to fill some moments with the Drama Queen.

I just love it when God…

Don't you just love it when God shows He cares? I do!

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment. We took a short jaunt to Whole Foods to grab some stuff for our allergy kids and then went home. I was exhausted, shaking, lightheaded and had a headache by the time we got home. I've been suffering from insomnia since I contracted the Sepsis and last night was bad. I tossed and turned and absolutely could not sleep. By this morning, I was a mess. I spent some time in prayer just kind of pouring out my heart.

Hubby was up early getting kids to school and such. Then, the phone repair guy showed up an hour early, throwing hubby off. The Princess had some problems and it was pure chaos. On top of that, I had another doctor appointment today, so needed to get ready. Hubby was trying to get some protein in me to help me with the shakes while dealing with everything else. Finally, we were able to sit down so he could give me my antibiotics. NOT!

We had three days worth left; and ALL THREE antibiotics were broken in one way or another. We had to call the pharmacist and nursing care to find out what to do; only to find out we had to go across town to pick up the meds to get them into me on time. This meant we had to leave even earlier. As hubby was about to blow and I was about to burst into tears, the doorbell rings.

Beautiful, long stem roses had arrived, fresh cut from the farm.

God is good.

We finally made it to the doctor's appointment (with clean hair, I might add!), and saw the doc. He said I can have my picc line taken out! It comes out first thing tomorrow, yippee! I still have weeks for full recovery, but what an answer to prayer.

On top of that, we've been praying for answers in regards to some very specific happenings in our lives. It's not been easy. Today, God sent us someone to help us in this area. I can't really share details, but I can say that this is one of those things that you just KNOW is an answer to prayer. Wow!

I just love it when God does this. 🙂