Crash

Well, it was the worst day of the week today. Not too bad considering that I've been strutting around the house saying, "I'm da mama, I'm da mama" for pretty much 5 days straight. Yeah. Whap.

The daytime is a dim memory already. Grandma and Grandpa were here in the afternoon. Eli was having a roaring good tantrum. Grandpa was defrosting the freezers in the garage (thank G-d, they were overdue and one wasn't staying closed properly). I spent 12:15-1:00 making a lunch that nobody but me ate (well, probably 10 minutes making lunch, 35 minutes running interference with the kids). Raizel (who had not slept well the night before) fell asleep in mom's lap on the couch. Finally at 2:30 we got it all together and went to... THE ROSE FESTIVAL. My dad, again bless his heart a hundred times, stayed home with Avi who was still napping. Raizel had fits being in the stroller and wanted me to carry her. I'm putting tons of effort into post-adoption bonding, but lugging around a 26-pounder in my arms all afternoon is NOT something that's possible. So, lots of screaming.

Then we got ice cream. YUM, I thought. (Memories of getting ice cream at the Hilton in Addis already gone... we didn't really clear 5 tables of people sitting near us, did we?? Don't ask...) Well, Raizel had fits about something to do with the ice cream. Her fit was about as indecipherable as Eli's tantrum earlier in the day. Next, 3-year-old Eli popped out of his chair, skipped over to Raizel's place popped a spoonful of his own ice cream into her mouth, and skipped back to his chair. Raizel was so astonished that she immediately stopped fussing and finished her own ice cream. The rest of the time went pretty well - watching a little circus show, going on a pony ride (Amirah), and going on 3 other little rides. They had a good time. We hiked back to the car and went home.

It was dinnertime and my parents were heading back to my sister's. Dean was leaving in 10 minutes for a fundraising dinner. I quickly looked up the information for him to make sure I remembered the time and place correctly, barely saying goodbye to my parents. Then they were gone and he was gone and it was just me. And 4 tired, hungry kids. OY.

In those two hours, all of these things happened:

Dinner. Oops. Only 2 hot dogs. 3 kids. Not good. We made do. Don't even ask about the kosher meat problem that's going on right now. If you keep kosher, you already know. If you don't, it's too awful to repeat. Unless you want to google Rubashkin's in the news. (For the record, we are no longer purchasing their products.)

Shampoos. Yeah! Clean hair is good. Shampoo Raizel's hair. Nice. Lots of conditioner for her. Then Amirah. Does her own shampooing now. Yes. Great. Bounce and tickle Avi in between scrubbings. Halfway through Amirah's shampooing, Raizel looks up at me and says, "Caca." Yeah, sure. She says that every 5 minutes. Oh. Yep, look at that little log. Yank the kids out. Raizel's slightly messy. Needs a new diaper. Amirah is slightly - no, terribly - cold. Towel doesn't help. Howling girl. Eli. Uh-oh. Poop running down his leg as he kicks his own pants off and says that he's poopy too. Quickly clean up R, grab E before he spreads the mess. A still howling. Now A the smaller (baby) is howling too. No one is paying attention to him in the bouncy seat in the bathroom. Where did everyone go???? Ignore Big A and Little A. Clean up R&E. Done. Rush Big A upstairs (lingering glance at the 200 straws E has dumped on the kitchen floor), turn on shower, rinse out shampoo, leave her in shower. Rush downstairs. Get Little A. Bounce him up and down a little. Look briefly at contamination site. Clean out the obvious offenders, then close that room down for business until I can decontaminate the tub, toys, and washcloths.

Okay. Everyone in pajamas now. Except Amirah. Oops. Is that her calling, er, screaming my name from the shower? Uh, yeah. Run upstairs. R howls. Does not like it when mama goes upstairs without her. Gets to bathroom. Bath mat is not back from the washer yet. Floor wet. Amirah slipped. Ouch. Back up on her feet. Finish her shower then into jammies.

Papa comes home. Yay. Sit for 10 minutes. Ahhhhh....

Time for Avi's medicine (thrush stuff & antibiotics). Down go the antibiotics. Wait a minute! Avi can't take any meds on a full stomach. He's very sensi-- Uh oh. At least he missed our one nice couch. I and the floor on the other hand - T-O-A-S-T. More laundry. Hmmmm... Better clean up.

Go over to the counter to get paper-- OH NO! Raizel is holding an empty bottle of antibiotics and sucking on it! Make her throw up NOW! Salt water, quick. Oh, there it all is. On her tummy and on the floor under the high chair. Under the high chair? B"H, it's a nice big puddle under the high chair. And on her jammies. Quick, take off her clothes. Rinse out her face, arms, and hair. Still sticky. Hm. Re-do. Okay. Toss in laundry. No, Raizel, not the big puddle in the living room!!!! Stay in the kitchen.

Well, the various puddles got cleaned up, the various children got their jammies and went to bed, and the various parents recovered from the day. I even got the *whole* kitchen and living room cleaned up. I know it will only look that nice until the morning, but hey, I'll take it. I think I'll finish my evening by crawling in bed with my daughter for a few extra minutes of cuddling after a wild and woolly day. She's been a trooper through all the fits today, and today when she was having one of her own (about the interrupted bath), she took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to try really hard not to let my yetzer hara win..." (Yetzer hara is the part of us that just acts/reacts instinctually like an animal, as opposed to our yetzer hatov which lifts us up to more noble things.) She's my girl!!

Tomorrow, everything will be under control. Or if not, at least the sink is gleaming.