Crap Day

Okay, one of two kids are in bed.  The other is almost asleep on the couch.  I’m eating raw cookie dough, which could explain why my stomach feels like crap.  Or it could just be the crap day.
I have these once in a while.  Usually after one of those “I Might Be Hormonal” days.  It also may be the explanation why I need to eat raw cookie dough.  Either way, it’s been a crap day.

So, I went to bed early last night, but still did not feel like waking up this morning.  Like I was awake, but wanted to sleep more.  Why is that?  Maybe it’s hormones.  Anyway, Beef comes in, kisses me goodbye, and I tell him to have a fantastic day.  An hour later, I wake up to find that something has breached our pool and we have lost water, and I begin to search for the leak.  No joy.  Crap day.  And so, I call for reinforcements.  Auntie N always knows how to fix everything, so I call her over.  She had already stopped by once to bring a skimmer, and noticed a difference.  She said she’d be back over later, and so I called the kids in so that we could do the inside work.

Remember the rooms that were supposed to be cleaned prior to any fun last week?  Like we’re talking prior to July 4th kind of fun?  Yeah, well it wasn’t done, and I wasn’t up to climbing the stairs to check on it.  I can see that this advanced maternal age thing goes way beyond pregnancy.  Anyway, today is the day, I mean it’s already a crap day, I may as well keep swinging!

I give the kids each a chore to do.  Line’s job is to wash the vinyl tablecloth and rid the table.  She decides that she will “tweak” my instructions just a bit.  She takes the tablecloth off the table, washes the table, then puts the tablecloth back on the table.  She does not, at any time, wash the tablecloth; and now it is more cricked than it was to begin with.  I try instructing her, but I am also working with Fritz, who has decided to learn how to fold laundry.  I have given him the washcloths, because let’s face it, folding a square twice is just about as easy as it comes in the world of laundry.  Apparently, I still need to work with him on pride in workmanship, because folding haphazardly so that the square actually somehow becomes a circle has him screaming with glee.

Finally Auntie N knocks on the door.  She has been in the backyard, and listens as I tell her what I think.  She hands me a patch kit and agrees that there is a leak somewhere.  I just have to find it.  I let the kids have a popsicle and play for a bit.  Then it is time to get back to work.  I send the kids upstairs to clean their rooms while I finish the laundry, and Line goes and does as she is told.  Fritz cries and declares that it is impossible for him to do his room by himself, and basically throws himself on the floor in a puddle.  I finish the laundry, and Line finishes her room.  She carries her basket upstairs by herself and carries her brother’s basket up as well.  I put our laundry away, then come out to sweep and mop the living and dining room.  It’s a crap day anyway, I may as well add sweeping and mopping to the mix.

One of the special things we have recently acquired in our home has been the Libman Freedom! Spray Mop.  I purchased this mop because I needed a mop that I could use very quickly.  I was tired of filling mop buckets and using tons of water.  I also wanted to be able to use my own cleaning solution, I didn’t want to have to buy some expensive soap and water mix that was “specially formulated” only for the brand of mop that I bought.  So this was literally the perfect mop for me!  I want you to know right now that I am not being paid in any way, shape, or form for that endorsement, it is just how it worked for me.  I have hardwood floors, and I am very particular about how I clean them.  I use only one type of cleaner, and I use hardwood oil to polish them, so I can’t be putting a lot of waxy, strong chemicals on my floor.  Also, I can buy a couple of different replacement pads that are washable up to 50 washes.  So for three gallons of gas, I can have three pads to interchange  for a total of 150 washes.  I’m not throwing tons of pads away like a swiffer, and I’m not having to wash all the time or pay outrageous amounts of dollars for pads like a shark.  So this is a nice mid-range mop.  Great bang for my buck, and serves all my purposes.  Now, the added bonus of this mop is that it is kid friendly.  Line was almost salivating to be able to use this mop, and Fritz actually got up off the floor and went upstairs to try to clean his room so that he could take a turn mopping!  I taught Line to mop in seconds, because there’s only two steps… spray and move the mop over the spray and back.  Simple.  Sorry for the unintentional promotion there… Just got carried away.  Crap day.  Let it go.

After sweeping and mopping, I proceeded to go upstairs, and conquer the bedrooms. And then I went down to cook lunch.  Because 1:45 in the afternoon is a great time to eat lunch, right?

After lunch, I sent the kids to bed for naps.  They were none too excited to go, but complied.  And I nestled in for a crap day nap too.  Pretty soon, Fritz was snuggling up next to me telling me that he loved me and needed some “mudder time”.  So I snuggled him in and fell asleep.  Thirty minutes later, I heard Line calling my name.  I didn’t move, and soon she was curled up at the foot of my bed, watching the “kid shows” I put on for her brother, who was sleeping sweetly beside me.  And there we lay for another hour.  Not really because I was sleeping, but because I didn’t want to get up, and I just couldn’t stop looking at these beautiful kids in my bed.  My kids.

And finally, Line couldn’t take it anymore, and I was ready to move, and Beef was on his way back with cattle panels, so we headed outside.  And I saw that stinking pool, and I got frustrated all over again.

When Beef was in the pool, trying to patch that hole, with our gorgeous little girl running around trying to “help” by cutting the Lilac bush with my most expensive pair of scissors, while Fritz continued to sleep, I reminded myself that it’s just a crap day.  It’s not a crap life.  In fact, it’s a wonderful life!