3-Days are for wimps

Every once in a while, I will load the kids up in the car and we head out to the airport to watch Daddy set sail to the friendly skies.

We watched Daddy taxi around, speed down the runway...up, up and away...gone for a three day.  Piece of cake...3-days are for wimps. 

The rest of Day 1 was fine.  We went to my aunt and uncle's, dined on KFC, which I hadn't had in a good while...yum...and watched Rio.  The night was great...until about 10:30p.

I headed up to bed after a night filled with iPad browsing and Oscar.  I was in the bathroom when all the sudden I hear "fire. fire. hallway. evacuate"

WHAT THE FUCK?  I immediately head into the hallway to see what was going on.  As quickly as the warning started, it ended.  Fuck!  You see, we have the First Alert One Link fire alarms and all the alarms talk to one another.  So, if the one by the furnace in the basement detects smoke, it will "talk" to the one in the hallway and sound.  I knew the warning was in the hallway, but I was standing right there and I didn't detect smoke...so, I picked up the phone to call Steve.  Thank goodness I didn't have to handle this myself.  I walked through the house, looked at all the units, and we talked about what the issue could be.

We figured the batteries needed changed. Easy change, but the unit was still showing a red light by the power.  Fuck.

Another call into Steve: "So, if I take the batteries out of this unit, and there is smoke in the basement tonight, all the other alarms will sound...right?" 

"Right."

Fine.  Batteries out. I didn't want to risk being woken up at 3:30am from a dead sleep to the sound of the alarm.

Fine...until the dogs started acting up.

Fuck.  I totally think that dogs sense things.  "Were the dogs sensing a fire?" Our black dog, who NEVER barks, was barking a good bit.  Fuck!  Finally I got the dogs in the bedroom, and commanded them to lay down.  I figure they were just agitated from the alarm sounding. We feel asleep.

I did, however, sleep with my contacts in that night...you know, just in case...


Day 2: the morning started off rocky.  We all know that behavior in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day.  Well, the tone of the morning was NOT so great.  Great.  If you have little ones, you understand: putting a sock on incorrectly can equal devastation and cries that sound like you just sliced your foot in half.  We finally loaded into the car, and off to "school" we went.

Dropped the kids off.  Quiet in the car.  Good.

A local morning show started to report that there was a shooting at a local school.  In my 25 minutes to work I heard initial reports, callers giving their perspective, and they also relayed live police/fire scanner feeds.

Once you are a parent, you see situations with such different eyes.  Yes, Ben and CC are still so young, but my heart still ached when I was hearing everything.  Life is so delicate and precious.  A heavy cloud hung over everyone all day.  Three students died. So sad.

After our routine work/school days, I picked up the kids and headed home. 

If you are a pilot wife, a single parent, or the wife of a traveling husband, you understand what I am talking about when you have nights where you just need to make an easy dinner.  After getting the kids I thought "pizza? chinese food?" but ultimately decided on quesadillas prepared at home. I had the tortillas, the beans, and the avocado that I needed to use before it went bad.

Flour tortillas on a baking sheet...broil.  Add refried beans and top tortilla...done!  Add a bit of guacamole and salsa, throw in a salad with cucumbers and you have dinner.  Best thing: I know the kids love this simple meal, so I knew I wouldn't get any "ew...I am not eating that."

Did I mention that my daughter likes to wear cucumbers on her head? Whatever.  I wasn't going to fight it.  I knew tonight was a bath night, so I chose to NOT fight this battle.

After dinner the kids were chill. Awesome!  Thank goodness for Sesame Street.  Educational, and just enough to gegive me 15 minutes to clean up the house.

The house was clean until the kids wanted to eat something.  Um, didn't you just eat?!  So, I let them eat some peanuts.  The bag broke.  Peanuts everywhere.

It is amazing how chill you can be when you are just so exhausted.  Today was just an exhausting day.  Day 2 of this damn three-day. I wouldn't call myself a lax parent.  But, I would call myself a trusting parent.  Do I expect too much from my kids? Maybe. But, I also want them to learn responsibility.  When the peanut bag broke, I knew I wasn't going to be the one cleaning it up...so, let the kids have a bit of fun, and then clean it up.  I wasn't out anything, and the kids have some fun and learned a few things...a rubber boot makes a great peanut shell breaker!

Bath time was easy.  Bedtime stories were courtesy of Disney book on the iPad, which is my go-to when I just don't have it in me to read a story.

Not to mention, I am a bit peeved at Steve.  Remember this post about pilots being men of few words?  Well, that ugly head is starting to surface again.  Being pissed off at your traveling partner is never a good thing, since you can't really effectively work things out over the phone.  Being peeved just puts a downer on your overall mood. 

Wine...blogging...iTunes...a great way to wind down day #2, if you ask me.

After a good while typing away and a glass of wine I was ready to call it a night.  I was in bed watching Golden Girls, my favorite, and I started to hear Ben coughing. 

Cough. Cough. Cough.

Cough. Cough. Cough.

Cry.....

Shit. 

I went into Ben's room. "Mommy, my tummy hurts" he said to me.  Great.  He is going to yack everywhere and I am going to have to call of work tomorrow...this sucks!

I cuddled with him as he coughed away.  He suddenly ran to the toilet.  Shit. 

He never got sick.  He was just coughing so hard that he thought he was going to get sick.  11:30pm: he was wide awake.  "Ben, do you want to sleep with Mommy?" I asked him. I chose not to fight the bedtime battle.  I was tired, and I chose the easy road.  "YES!" he responded and he ran into my bed.

I have made a point to not let the kids sleep in bed with us.  In the few short nights I get to share the bed with Steve, I never even considered adding a kid or two to the mix.  But, I can make an exception every once in a while, especially when your sleeping buddy is so darn cute!

Day 3: Ben woke up coughing again.  I think it is a drainage issue.  We snuggled a bit as I kept snoozing the alarm clock.  Finally, we were up and at-em'. The kids were angelic getting ready for school.  No meltdowns...just happiness and cooperation.  I gave them thankful kisses and they got buckled into their carseats.  I am a big believer of positive reinforcement.  Drop off went fabulously.  The sun was shining brightly on the drive into work.  Life is good.

Steve gets home tonight.  I will track his flight, and let the kids stay up if he isn't delayed.  Seeing your kids run to Daddy really does warm your heart.  That alone can sometimes make all the shit things go away.

A freakin' 3-day and this trip kick my ass pretty good.  Guess I was a whimp this time around.  I am okay with that.  We can't always be superstars.