The Day's Debacles

Beijing is hosting the SUMMER Olympics, right...not the WINTER? Tell me, then, how it's possible things went downhill so quickly today. I'm also wondering who pushed me out of the gate at the top of the hill, and why I wasn't issued a helmet or even poles first.

Problem 1: WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS
It started at 7am when I had to wake up Ilya to get him ready for daycare. He normally sleeps until 7:30-8am, so little guy was NOT happy to have his Z's interrupted early. He only ate the daycare's breakfast once last week. I didn't want him waiting until lunch to eat, so I fed him a small breakfast before we left in case he decided to snub his Minnieland food again. He was happy to eat but not so happy when he picked up his sippy cup for juice and it spilled all over him. Seems that on Sunday afternoon, mommy is capable of laying out a week's worth of clothes for mother AND son so closets don't explode each day, but come Monday morning she can't screw the lid on a sippy cup correctly. Go figure. Oopsie.

Upstairs we went to take off the apple juice clothes, clean up sticky boy, and find something new to put on. No sooner did I get the 2nd outfit on him than projectile vomit fell from the sky all over us both. And I had my work clothes on already. Grrr... Mommy puts on outfit #2, Ilya puts on #3 and we were off. We don't get far before I realize I didn't close the garage door & had to turn around to go back home.

Problem 2: WHERE IS EVERYONE?
Well, on the way to daycare we were all stuck behind Farmer Joe on his sleek and modern tractor straight out of the early 1900's. We live in the sticks so it's not uncommon to see tractors on our one-lane roads sometimes. What is uncommon is to get stuck behind one for nearly 7 miles, going 10 mph at best and having NO OPPORTUNITY to pass.

Arrive at daycare really wishing I had a cup of coffee with me. Following Farmer Joe for so long was enough to lull both me & Ilya back to sleep. Driver stayed awake, passenger not so much. So, once again Little Man is woken from his much needed slumber and is NOT happy to see his smiling mama's face. He explained this to me as he bashed a Lego in my face that busted my lip. Seriously - there was blood. Where'd that toy come from anyway? I didn't know we had any stowaway Lego passengers with us. NOTE TO SELF: check car tonight for anymore lethal weapons.

Bleeding, I carry a screaming 16 month old into his Busy Bees classroom.....and much to my surprise we are the only ones there. What? Did they hear us coming & take cover? I hung out in the classroom for 5 minutes and no one ever showed up. So I scoop up Ilya, who by the way had settled into playing nicely with a stuffed animal (why wasn't THAT in the car instead of the Lego??) and once again he is very upset with this latest upheaval. He decided it was a good time to practice screaming again. We walk around the entire facility & finally I find someone who works there. When I asked where Ilya's group was, she looked at me like I was speaking, oh I don't know...RUSSIAN??...and I was met with the blankest of blank stares.

So I find someone else who tells me the Busy Bees are in the infant nursery because (and you should read this next part slowly) there...aren't...enough...teachers...yet...to watch the kids in different rooms. Um, okay. Is this supposed to make me feel any better about leaving my son there all day? Not enough teachers? It's almost 8am and the place opens at 6am!! Where is everyone? Still stuck behind Farmer Joe? So now Ilya is handed off to a stranger that neither of us know and he is terrified. I am heartbroken and on a major guilt trip as I walk out & hear him still screaming. I made it to my car but decided I had to go back until a teacher that Ilya knows arrived. Thankfully it didn't take long for Ms. Lisa to get there, but that's when my first tears of the day started. Norm called to check in shortly after all this & I have no idea what I said to him or if he was able to understand any of my jibberish.

Problem 3: Afternoon "COURTESY CALL" FROM DAYCARE
Your son is sick. Great... Fever, serious bouts of coughing, diarrhea, snotty nose...you name it, it was on their list. My first thought - Is it croup again? Will I need to cart him off to the ER alone? Leave work early to retrieve Ilya and his diarrhea clothes which daycare stuffed into a plastic baggie for me. If you're keeping up with the count, he's now in his 4th outfit of the day! So, get to daycare expecting the worst and find a slightly grumpy boy who is snotty nosed, coughing a bit but thankfully non-feverish.

Problems 4-??: Ill attempts at snacktime, dinnertime, bathtime, blah blah blah
Get home & have a fun 45 minutes but then my son's world crashed in on him. His snack is now dripping off the phone behind our table, our dogs got to sample his Gerber graduate when it ended up on the floor, and I discovered how angry little man can get if you pull him out of the bathtub before HE decides he wants to come out. Wow...we've had tempter tantrums but none like that one.

Normal bedtime is around 7:30-7:45. Poor little guy is exhausted and had passed out cold in my arms by 7:10. I placed him in his crib & haven't heard a peep out of him since. I pray he is able to sleep through the night and wakes up feeling much better tomorrow. I also pray his teachers are in his classroom tomorrow so that his day can start in a familiar environment with familiar people. I pray that I start to finally find peace in the fact that he's in daycare, but at the same time I pray an opportunity presents itself that allows me or Norm to be a stay at home parent.

Oh, and not to worry....the snack is cleaned off the phone, the swelling in my lip has gone down a bit, the dogs haven't puked up the Gerber Graduate (yet!!), I finished washing all of the outfits we both went through today, and I just got off the phone with my fabulous Seestor who talked me off my ledge. Thanks, Rob!!

Here's to a better day tomorrow,
Kar