Another Chapter in the "Mom on Her Own" Saga, Part 2

Scroll down to the previous post for the first half of this story!

Thursday, however, dawned chilly, damp, and gray, and everyone's attitudes followed suit. I was inexplicably tired and irritable, Drew was weepy, and Aimee was...what only she can be when out of sorts, a force beyond all reckoning. We went outside in the morning to feed the animals and get some fresh air, since the afternoon promised rain, and Aimee insists (usually right as we are getting ready to start school) that she must have fresh air before being tortured with something like grammar (all of which she protests she already KNOWS, so WHY do we have to do it EVERY day...). Drew spent most of his time crying about not being able to find some obscure toy, and when it was time to go inside, you would have thought it was the most gorgeous day of the year from the way Aimee protested. Conditions did not look ripe for a productive school day! Nevertheless, we did get a few things done - and predictably, it wasn't all very pleasant, though the younger ones had a blast emptying book shelves and dumping out toys. I concluded the morning with a reading session on the couch while I nursed Chase (we're reading Ginger Pye, and I would love to put Books We're Reading on my blog the way Hannah has it, but I haven't figured that out yet...), and that was pleasant, even though though it seems it's really physically impossible for the boys to sit still. At any rate, lunchtime brought to my attention that there was hardly any food in the house, which would neccesitate a shopping trip. Yipee! I wanted to check my bank account, though, and just make sure there were proper funds in my checking account, so I tried to log on quickly to our online banking service before I made some lunch. Hmmm...a strange message popped up saying there were no accounts under my ID#. I tried a couple of things, then called the automated line, which didn't recognize any of the numbers I was feeding it. Panicked, and while hastily putting some sandwiches on the table, I called a local bank. Neither the friendly woman on the other end of the line, nor the woman she had call me back, could find any record of my bank accounts! They promised to help me figure out what was going on, but for about an hour it appeared our accounts had dissapeared, and I was frazzled, to say the least. Fortunately, they discovered the problem - a computer glitch - and assured me that I still had access to my funds. What relief! In the meantime, however, there had been gleeful chaos in the kitchen, and while I had physically been there, obviously I had been quite distracted mentally, so when I came to, as it were, I realized that the boys had been playing with cups of water and that Chase was now making a puddle of water green by stirring an uncapped marker in it. The rest of the house was a disaster, and it was a good long while before I could restore some order. Late that afternoon, amidst drizzling rain (which had led to the cancellation of Aimee's soccer practice, thank goodness), we ventured out on the shopping excursion, and I am so pleased to say that was actually a highlight of our day. The kids behaved very well, and at the checkout, when Drew was choosing some toys for himself and his brothers from the free toy basket, he emerged with three identical balls, with I thought showed careful thought and consideration. It doesn't sound like much, but I was quite proud of him. So home we went, in good spirits, to work on dinner. Ryan's good behavior began to take a downward turn at this point, though, and the evening was a wild one. By bedtime, Chase, who had borne the brunt of Ryan's impish spirit, was out of sorts and crying as I tried to help everyone get ready for bed, and Ryan, the imp himself, was testing every last reserve of patience I had left. I knew he was bored, tired, and in need of attention, but still, I was taking so many deep breaths I thought I might pass out, and I kept chanting to myself, "Gentle discipline, gentle discipline..." :-) I finally corralled everyone in my room to read a bedtime story, and Chase consoled himself there by emptying the contents of my lingerie drawer (at least someone had the opportunity to enjoy my lingerie!) and everything else in my jewelry armoire that he could reach. After the story - read in somewhat strained tones, I must admit - I tucked the older ones into bed, and as I was praying with Drew, Chase wandered into Aimee's room, and then back into Drew's, carrying a book. "Gook!" he announced with obvious pride. He held the book out to me, and repeated, "Gook!" Of course, we were all delighted with his new word, and suspended bedtime for ten minutes as we applauded him every time he said it. Ryan soon reminded us that he needed to go to bed, so I finally bade everyone good night, and the little boys and I went to the living room, where we snuggled on the couch and - don't knock my bad parenting here - turned on Survivor so Ryan would sit quietly and I could numb my brain while I nursed Chase to sleep. Ryan fell asleep in the space of about two minutes, and Chase followed soon after. Did I then diligently attend to the dishes and the general disarray over the rest of the house? Did I engage in some productive, refreshing hobby? Or even go straight to bed to get some much-needed rest? Of course not. I proceeded to further disengage from reality and any real mental activity by watching several episodes of The Office online before wearily cleaning up the bare minumum and falling into bed. Oh, well.
Friday was charged with the energizing hope Dave's arrival home. We did a little school, played with friends in the afternoon, and I restored the house to respectability. While Chase and I were making dinner, Dave called to say that he would be home around 8:00, which was a little dissapointing, but I decided we would have a movie night during dinner to help us through the next couple hours. The kids came in at one point and said that they had filled the water table with water and they wanted to know if they could get in it. I said no, but that they could splash each other if they liked. I quickly put dinner in the oven, cleaned up, then peeked outside to see the action accompanying the squeals of delight. Lo and behold, I saw Aimee in the water table, Drew in a sandbox they had also filled with water, and Ryan pealing off his clothes - with a dirty diaper underneath. I was as pleased about this as you can imagine, and I went directly outside to fetch Ryan, with instructions - given in no uncertain terms - for Aimee and Drew to hie themselves inside straightaway. As I was talking to them, Daisy (our dog) slipped inside the back door and raided the kitchen trash can. You could almost hear the death knell sounding for my sanity at this point, but we cleaned everyone and everything up, turned on the movie, ate dinner, and were finishing when Dave finally walked in around 8.
So we survived yet again - hope you all managed to survive this ridiculously long two-part post!
Oh, and the bank situation is not resolved after all. The bank assures me that the accounts are there and that my funds are available, but they can't bring up any information about my accounts, which leaves me feeling less than comfortable about the whole thing!