woe is not me

i just sent out a very snarky reminder to the mothers of my cub scouts that went a little something like this...

***

*reminder for tomorrow, wednesday april 14th*
kids come home from school and mom nags to do homework 3pm

peel a video game controller out of their hands 3:05pm

feed kids a snack because heaven forbid they starve 3:30pm

wolf and bear den meeting 4-5 my house!

webelos den meeting 5-6 my house

dinner for family sometime, somewhere, somehow.

relief society birthday dinner 6pm at the church

hip hop dance class 7pm

kids hungry again, toss 'em a piece of bread

baths? maybe next week.

put kids to bed 8pm

assess the damage to the house and kitchen, cry a little.

put kids to bed again 9pm, and 9:15, and 9:30 and...

have a stiff drink(dietpepsi) and half a pan of brownies 10pm

think of all the things you forgot to do,

eat other half pan of brownies...

eventually pass out on the couch.

***

i hope they know i was kidding,

sort of.

my sarcasm stems from several places...

*

the place on my hands and knees where i've been cleaning up spilled milk, permanent marker, bright red lipstick, desitin, toothpaste, chocolate, and who knows what else put there by the devils apprentice (aka, the leprechaun, aka, tade) he has been on one serious tour of terror lately.  i'm sure it has something to do with charlie, but i give him tons of attention, and have never had such a "busy into trouble" child like this before... more on this later.

*

also on the docket, every day since "the incident" (a boy got sick on the bus) i have had to convince my kindergartener that it's okay to go to school... he's been traumatized and thinks about it constantly.  not a day goes by that he doesn't talk about "the incident".  i'm trying to act cool and brush it off, but i also want him to know that i care and love him and that his feelings are valid...  i just really want him to get his mind off it and back into life.  i don't know if talking about it feeds his fear or resolves his issues.  it's kind of like that story where you walk into a doctors office and read all the pamphlets on the table about diseases and start wondering if you have them yourself, even when you didn't know they existed just a few minutes before you sat down. oh well, this too shall pass.  

*

then there's the blooming tweenager in all her glory.  to add to her list of woes, including no cell phone, and no life (according to her), papa bear accidentally broke her finger with a broom.  i think he feels as bad as she does... but amongst the tears a little part of her feels cool to have a broken finger (you know that part that feels cool to get braces and glasses).  we let the puppy out in the front yard and it started to dart for the busy road, so chris got a broom to do some tough love and then addy reached for milo's collar just as chris went to strike the dog (which for the record, does not jive with me) at least she doesn't have to go to piano lessons today right? there's always a silver lining.

*

and then there's me.  little 'ol me with my messy house, to do lists, lack of training for the 10k i'm supposed to run in two weeks... and the things going on in our life that i can't share on a public blog.  one day at a time right?  the funny thing is, even if our list of woes stretched to the moon and back again, there will always be someone who has it easier or harder than we do... and as i sat down to share my thoughts i found the following pictures on my desktop.  they are from my aunts husband corey who is a doctor and went to volunteer in haiti.  he is amazing and has a huge heart, to drop everything with his crazy busy life and go down and help those in need, despite danger or the unknown.  these images immediately humbled me and i've stopped complaining... i just wish i could retract my snarky message to the cub scout mothers.