So I feel slightly confused on what day it is because my work days are different this week. Today was our ‘Staff Planning Day’ which means we ordered pizza for lunch (the deluxe ‘garden’ kind which I actually like, surprisingly!) and I offered to go pick it up to save some money and I had a coupon, of course, so I also surprised everyone and got some wonderful cinnamon squares - yum! We do this once a year and it’s fun - we sit around the kitchen eating and talking about life… and you get to see your 'co-workers' in a different light. I was talking about being nervous about leaving for vacation on Saturday & the 5 hour car ride with my kids, and everyone ended up sharing stories from car seats, to family trips , to giving me ideas of how to entertain my little ones in the car. :) So I think maybe I should go to the dollar store and get some random little things that would be completely new to the girls, whether books or toys, and then I could wrap them up like gifts and throw them in a bag and then each hour in the car, they could pick a new ‘toy’ to unwrap! Wouldn’t that be fun!? I’ve also done lots of research on the internet today, mapping out our trip and I’ve been considering how nice it would be to stop half way - as in, have an actual destination stop where the girls would be able to get out & play & run around - just to break up the length of the trip… and at the same time, I also have thought about visiting my Grandma & Grandpa who live in Michigan, who we haven’t seen since Chloe was just a baby. (Wow..) So I think it’d be terrible to drive all the way north - passing the city where they live by so many miles, and not attempt to meet up with them. So in all my ‘mapquesting’ today, I have found an awesome state park that is only 15 minutes from their house, I think, and it’s even almost exactly the half-way point of our trip! How perfect! The website for this park even says there is an awesome play area for kids - so they could let out some steam & some energy - even more perfect! Now I just need to get a hold of my Grandma & Grandpa and see if we can work something out, and of course run this idea by Chris first! We would only have to drive for 2 1/2 hours and then we’d arrive at the park. We’ve really been going back & forth lately about what time to leave… Chris’ parents & Alex plan to leave first thing in the morning… but I keep telling Chris I don’t think that’s feasible for us. First of all, it’s going to take us a while to get everything packed & ready to go on Saturday morning, and I almost think it’d be best to leave around lunch time, when the girls are getting tired & ready for naps… In the morning they have energy to run around and play and we need to let them do that in order for them to get tired & then sleep in the car! And that would give us more time in the morning to get everything ready, without feeling completely rushed. And of course I've had the thought of leaving at 3 a.m. too - haha - when everyone is sleeping - cuz I am just not looking forward to this long car ride!
So, aside from our vacation planning, here's what else has been happening - - Sickness! Yes, what we thought was Maya just going through an awful teething phase last weekend (she had a fever for a little bit on Friday & also on Saturday) - we now think it was actually a virus… because yesterday at lunch time, Chloe developed a fever! Well, it turns out, since Maya had been SO irritable lately and because I wasn’t sure if her fever was truly caused by teething, I had made her a Dr. appt. for yesterday afternoon, and it's a good thing I did, since Chloe came down with the fever just a few hours before the appt. So I was then forced to take both girls to the Dr. with me all by myself, a task I never try & accomplish! (I had originally planned to drop off Chloe with my Mother-in-law, so I would just be taking Maya.) So low & behold, at the Dr.'s office, Maya checks out completely fine (figures!) and Chloe is the one who is diagnosed as having hay fever, as well as coxsackievirus, and she has the form of the virus known as "hand, foot and mouth disease" which can cause painful sores in your mouth & throat, and on your hands, feet, etc. The nurse could see the spots in her throat. And she said this is contagious, so I assume now that Maya probably got it first, which explains her fever last weekend, and now Chloe has gotten it from her. They can’t give any medicine for it, but it may make her tired, feverish, not real hungry, and have a sore throat… which she does, but doesn’t complain about all that much. So it's just something that will run its course. As for Maya, the last few days, whenever I would give her a dose of motrin, she would immediately transform from her irritable little self into a happy child - dancing around the room! So I wonder if her teeth are bothering her, since when she is on pain relievers, she is 100 times happier. And I've also learned from all this, that anytime my children have a fever, I should take them to the Dr. instead of letting whatever it is causing the fever to just run its course - and I will no longer assume it’s teething! I feel like such a terrible Mom now.
In other random ‘news’ - Maya is still not sleeping good at night. Last night she took a record amount of 5 bottles! She was up every 2 hours crying. Are you kidding me, child? This has got to stop… I haven’t gotten a good nights sleep in I don’t know how long and it’s really wearing on me - and of course Chris complains about it, too.. even though I am always the one getting up to get Maya some milk or deal with putting them back to bed. I don't quite understand how this is fair when I have to go to work in the morning, too, but whatever. So because of not sleeping & other things, I just get frustrated so easily with my kids lately and every little thing sets me off… I hate feeling this way. And I’ve realized how important my naps are when I’m not getting enough sleep at night. Yesterday afternoon before our Dr. appt I took a short nap and it made a huge difference. So I need to say forget it to accomplishing household chores & just sleep in the afternoon some days. Good thing I have tomorrow off so I can do this!
So with the sickness going around and the irritability of Maya, I am just not even excited lately to go on this vacation! Chris and I are both at our wits’ end and don’t even get along with each other half the time! Kids sure can drive you nuts... we are living proof. :) I think the only way I could call this a real "vacation" is if it were time spent alone with my husband somewhere, without our kids! I almost feel like this is going to more stressful than anything. Isn’t that awful? Then again, I think my poor outlook may also be a result of my lack of sleep. Maybe I’ll start getting more excited about it eventually… let’s say a prayer. Chris and I really need a break and I think taking a 1 year old and almost 3 year old on vacation 5 hours away doesn’t exactly define the ‘break’ we need! heh.
Well, I guess I’ll end it here… hope you're having a good week... sickness & stress free!
1 comment:
Kim,
I took a class at church for new moms and the woman who taught it (who has 6 children) said that when you go away with kids it's called a "trip" and not a "vacation." She said if you think of it that way, you have a better attitude about it. It's not really relaxing...just a fun change of scenery. That's what I recently experienced on our latest trip to the beach. It was fun, but I kept telling myself that I wasn't there to relax. It helped. I hope it's helpful for you.
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