OK. Some days I wonder if anyone else has kiddos as totally insane as mine. They are hilarious...like, all the time, but they are totally nuts too. Then there are experiences that make me wonder if we are just a roaming hazard (that trip to preschool via stroller comes to mind). Then we have experiences like last night that just make me wonder if I am doing it wrong.
I LOVE family parties. I love seeing my family and socializing. I get a lot of energy from communicating and my family are some of the best communicators I know. Each year we gather and go to see the lights at temple square. We all meet up and have a great time. Last night we went and got dinner then headed to temple square. I was in a fantastic mood since the roads were WAY better than expected and we got to City Creek earlier than necessary. Yay for good roads on a miserably snowy day!
Once close to the temple my older brother suggested that we go touch the temple. what a great experience for the kids. Evelyn was SO excited! Rhett was just wide eyed at all the chaos. He was bundled into the stroller all warm and toasty. After that we headed past the nativity to the visitors center to see the Chrstus.
I was super excited to see it. I have tried to take Evelyn to see it several times, but something has always gotten in the way. While in line Rhett got out of the stroller and snagged his sippy of milk while roaming around our feet. After drinking most of the sippy he inhaled some milk and started coughing. That is when the crap hit the fan. Coughing led to gagging and I struggled to get his coat off since I know my gag reflex is more active when overly warm. I was too late. He puked all over the floor near the top of the escalator.
Am I the only one whose kiddos puke when they cough hard?
Well, I finished taking his coat off since it was all pukey. just in time for him to puke all over his sweat shirt. Perfect. In the craziness Kevin, Paul, Evelyn and I had become separated from the family group. Kevin grabbed the extra 3 blankets I had in the diaper bag, and the wet wipes and tried to clear things up. Paul went for a janitor with Evelyn. I cleaned Rhett up (yep, right there with hundreds of people walking by). Paul came back a moment later with a screaming Evelyn over his shoulder. He'd found someone to help clean up our mess, but for some reason (chaos+ missing bedtime does not mix) Evelyn had melted down and was having the worst fit I have seen in the better part of a year.
I thought we were past that. Tantrums have always been few and far between, but this one was ridiculous! Maybe all her tantrum-ey-ness was all coming out now?
With Paul keeping Evelyn from running off and Kevin still working on the floor puke. I set a now mostly clean Rhett on the floor so I could wipe the puke out of the ribbing on my cardigan and off my pants. Rhett is fast and before I knew it he was over by the Christmas tree, pulling on the ornaments. I grabbed him quick since at home that pulling usually brings the tree down. The last thing we needed was for Rhett to pull the tree down into the muck!
Having done our best to clear things up, and knowing the cleaning pros were on their way, we decided it was time to leave. Stroller...where is the stroller? Oh, right. It is with the family. Boo. Paul handed the still sobbing Evelyn to Kevin and went looking across the room, ahead in line, for the family. He came back a moment later with the stroller. A sweet lady who had been behind us followed him back. She had seen what happened (how could you miss it?), but wanted to invite us to butt in line in front of her so we could still see the Christus if we wanted to. Seriously, I was already super close to tears and her kindness almost did me in. I looked at my crew. We were moist, smelled like puke, and Evelyn was still whimpering. I told her we had better just get the kiddos home, but thanked her for being so kind. It seriously meant a lot when she said "I've been there!"
I put Rhett in his stroller and bundled him under the only clean blanket left and stopped to stuff the messy blankets into a bag. Evelyn got down and tried to push the stroller away. I told her not to and she immediately dropped to the floor on her face crying again...really?!? We may have scared Paul out of ever having children.
Kevin is the ward mission leader in our ward so we know the Elders pretty well. We turned to leave and BAM there they were smiling at us. I think they had missed the puke part, but I was like oh great! Witnesses!
We booked it back to the SUV and buckled everyone in. I seriously wanted to cry. I felt like this was the one thing I wanted to do this Christmas for ME. I guess that is the life of a mom though. I realized that it was just too much. My kids are almost always asleep by 7 and this whole fiasco went down at 8. No wonder Evelyn threw a fit. She had soda with dinner and was probably coming off a sugar high, after bedtime, in the frigid winter cold.
I had my little pity party on the way home, but once the kids were home and in bed I realized I had somehow survived the mommy scene that we all live in fear of. Then I realized how ridiculous the whole thing was. Seriously? That really happened? Now I can't help but laugh... a lot.
Have I earned a medal yet? Or better yet, how about a vacation?
I LOVE family parties. I love seeing my family and socializing. I get a lot of energy from communicating and my family are some of the best communicators I know. Each year we gather and go to see the lights at temple square. We all meet up and have a great time. Last night we went and got dinner then headed to temple square. I was in a fantastic mood since the roads were WAY better than expected and we got to City Creek earlier than necessary. Yay for good roads on a miserably snowy day!
Once close to the temple my older brother suggested that we go touch the temple. what a great experience for the kids. Evelyn was SO excited! Rhett was just wide eyed at all the chaos. He was bundled into the stroller all warm and toasty. After that we headed past the nativity to the visitors center to see the Chrstus.
I was super excited to see it. I have tried to take Evelyn to see it several times, but something has always gotten in the way. While in line Rhett got out of the stroller and snagged his sippy of milk while roaming around our feet. After drinking most of the sippy he inhaled some milk and started coughing. That is when the crap hit the fan. Coughing led to gagging and I struggled to get his coat off since I know my gag reflex is more active when overly warm. I was too late. He puked all over the floor near the top of the escalator.
Am I the only one whose kiddos puke when they cough hard?
Well, I finished taking his coat off since it was all pukey. just in time for him to puke all over his sweat shirt. Perfect. In the craziness Kevin, Paul, Evelyn and I had become separated from the family group. Kevin grabbed the extra 3 blankets I had in the diaper bag, and the wet wipes and tried to clear things up. Paul went for a janitor with Evelyn. I cleaned Rhett up (yep, right there with hundreds of people walking by). Paul came back a moment later with a screaming Evelyn over his shoulder. He'd found someone to help clean up our mess, but for some reason (chaos+ missing bedtime does not mix) Evelyn had melted down and was having the worst fit I have seen in the better part of a year.
I thought we were past that. Tantrums have always been few and far between, but this one was ridiculous! Maybe all her tantrum-ey-ness was all coming out now?
With Paul keeping Evelyn from running off and Kevin still working on the floor puke. I set a now mostly clean Rhett on the floor so I could wipe the puke out of the ribbing on my cardigan and off my pants. Rhett is fast and before I knew it he was over by the Christmas tree, pulling on the ornaments. I grabbed him quick since at home that pulling usually brings the tree down. The last thing we needed was for Rhett to pull the tree down into the muck!
Having done our best to clear things up, and knowing the cleaning pros were on their way, we decided it was time to leave. Stroller...where is the stroller? Oh, right. It is with the family. Boo. Paul handed the still sobbing Evelyn to Kevin and went looking across the room, ahead in line, for the family. He came back a moment later with the stroller. A sweet lady who had been behind us followed him back. She had seen what happened (how could you miss it?), but wanted to invite us to butt in line in front of her so we could still see the Christus if we wanted to. Seriously, I was already super close to tears and her kindness almost did me in. I looked at my crew. We were moist, smelled like puke, and Evelyn was still whimpering. I told her we had better just get the kiddos home, but thanked her for being so kind. It seriously meant a lot when she said "I've been there!"
I put Rhett in his stroller and bundled him under the only clean blanket left and stopped to stuff the messy blankets into a bag. Evelyn got down and tried to push the stroller away. I told her not to and she immediately dropped to the floor on her face crying again...really?!? We may have scared Paul out of ever having children.
Kevin is the ward mission leader in our ward so we know the Elders pretty well. We turned to leave and BAM there they were smiling at us. I think they had missed the puke part, but I was like oh great! Witnesses!
We booked it back to the SUV and buckled everyone in. I seriously wanted to cry. I felt like this was the one thing I wanted to do this Christmas for ME. I guess that is the life of a mom though. I realized that it was just too much. My kids are almost always asleep by 7 and this whole fiasco went down at 8. No wonder Evelyn threw a fit. She had soda with dinner and was probably coming off a sugar high, after bedtime, in the frigid winter cold.
I had my little pity party on the way home, but once the kids were home and in bed I realized I had somehow survived the mommy scene that we all live in fear of. Then I realized how ridiculous the whole thing was. Seriously? That really happened? Now I can't help but laugh... a lot.
Have I earned a medal yet? Or better yet, how about a vacation?
