Wretched Week

If there was ever a time we needed to live near family... It's a complete disaster zone around here. As some of you already know, Annie broke her leg on Saturday (which deserves its own post) and ever since then things have gone haywire. Darren, Summer, Des and I can't kick this ridiculously gross cold/sorethroat/illness and so we've been trading off at the hospital and at home. But these last few days since D's gone back to work, have just about killed me. I literally cannot keep up with the dishes, demands, diapers, and destruction that accompany these littlest three at home together. Words honestly can't describe... I try to tell D when he comes home and I can't even form the sentences. I feel like I'm just barely keeping my eyeballs above water.

When I'm carrying Annie to the toilet, Summer's off dumping toyboxes to find something for her purse. Or while I'm scrubbing out drops of paint from the carpet (I stupidly allowed Annie to use one of her gifts since she was so bored), Des is screaming on the mat beside me. If I manage to get everyone fed, then I try tackling the dishes/spills/laundry until it's time to feed again and I'm all dried up because I haven't eaten anything myself. It's this crazy cycle! I owe my life to those dearest of friends who have brought us meals (and driven carpool and hosted playdates) this week. We've needed them more than after having a baby.

Last night Summer turned our bath on, put in the plug and walked away. We didn't discover it until an hour (or two?) later, so our bathroom and part of our bedroom flooded. Then the dining room ceiling leaked all night from all the water that got underneath the tub. We're just praying the drywall holds.

Des is still so good, but he won't sleep more than 30-45 minutes at a time, probably due to his cold. So I'm constantly trying to sneak away and run up and feed him back to sleep before Summer realizes. (She can pick my bedroom lock with some private stash of bobby pins and loves to climb in bed with Des then shout, "He's awake!")

And I'm so exhausted! Someone's always up at night. Baby Des because he's sick. Annie for pain meds. And of course this all corresponded with Summer climbing out of her crib, so she hasn't slept through the night since. And I can't be available to her then because she wants to nurse for hours and I have to feed Des, so tantrums ensue. So we're battling some weaning issues simultaneously. Poor girl is jacked. We keep trying all sorts of gates and tag team efforts and "consequences" but she seems too young for the bed. Perhaps we've reached the point of adequate desperation to try the crib tent my friend just mailed us. (Don't worry, she's getting lots of cuddles and love and extra patience to counterbalance all this hoopla.)

And don't even get me started on the kicker... yesterday I was checking heads for lice. What the what?!? Annie and Kenna were "itchy." If we have lice, you may as well just shoot me now.

I love my kids. I'm grateful that I'm available to care for them. It's just that in this perfect storm, they all have so many specific and differing needs that it's impossible to keep every need met, let alone everyone happy, clean, or fed. And when you're hacking up a lung and getting no sleep, each new disaster chips away at your sanity until you feel like the walking dead, running on empty, living a nightmare. Hopefully next week we can accept the kind offers of help and let Summer go to friends' houses for needed play (she's too croopy/snotty right now.) Hopefully, Des will nap again. And hopefully I'll survive this week....

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POST-EDIT: Miraculously enough, while finishing this post, Darren swooped in and saved the day. Following a prompting, he left work early, made some phone calls and came home with strict instructions that I must leave the house. I obediently fed the baby, showered (it had been a few), and left in a daze after promising to go eat my favorite Malaysian food. Then he texted me to look in the glove box and proceed to the mall. He'd left a wad of cash and wouldn't tell me what for until I'd got to the appropriate spot (I think he knew I wouldn't agree to his plan if he'd told me), then typed "Look across the way to Woden Nails & Spa, you have a 2:30 appointment." Aaaaah! He'd booked me a mani/pedi/facial, then sent me for a hair cut after. It was so crazy and fun and sweet and NEEDED. If you know me well, I'm not one who seeks or enjoys that type of pampering. I've done it maybe twice in my life because to me it just feels like throwing your money away. But the thought, effort, appreciation and concern behind that gesture was worth every single penny. After a quick feed, he sent me out to dinner with the big kids and took the little ones on a long walk. AMAZING. I felt so loved and looked after at a time when I'd obviously hit a real low. The kids all got a boost amidst some serious chaos. And we're coming back to life. So in case you were worried about me running away (I sorta was), I now feel like a new woman. And a lucky one at that!