The bug has landed

Today.

What a day.

I think the kids ate crabby for breakfast. Either that or there must be a crabby bug going around. One that makes kids extra cranky and defiant or bicker with each other more than usual. I think a nasty bug flew into the house this morning when I opened the door to bring out the trash. It then proceeded to bite a few of the children, although I won't know for sure how many until the older two get home from school.

"Okay guys! It's time to pick up the toys so we can read books! Come on! Let's clean up!" I said in a sing songy voice. It's supposed to make the kids think cleaning up is fun. It never really does. It's a scam.

"Ugh! Grrrrrr....growl.....whine.....whine....whine.....I don't waaaaant toooooo!" says my son as he crawls away from the lego mess. Even a little kind coaxing doesn't budge him. Extreme measures are in order. Sitting in a chair for 4 minutes is not punishment for him anymore.

"Get up and pick up those legos!" The tone in my voice is no longer the nice sing songy, but rather mommy-is-losing-her-patience voice. Still, he refuses to help pick up. With the day I have had he is pushing the wrong person.

Later, after the duplo lego storm of the century and just as my 1 year old daughter decides to climb up onto the kitchen table while I am fixing lunch, I hear a crash coming down the stairs. Something has spilled. As I scoop up Samantha I quickly go to investigate and find my son standing near the bottom of the stairs looking down at a once full bin of small legos spilled onto the stairs. He has a crushed looked on his face.

"Didn't I tell you that you could not bring the legos downstairs?" I ask him. He just looks at me. "Pick them up please." I take Sam and go into the kitchen lest I burn lunch.

I drop an egg in between the cabinet and the refrigerator.

I slam my shin on a small kids chair that Sam has pulled up to the counter and is standing on.

Meanwhile, Gabe is still 'picking' up. His method of picking up is to sit on the floor and look at all of the legos strewn about. I think my head is going to explode. If he doesn't get them picked up Sam is sure to get into them and that could be a problem as most anyone who has children knows that small legos are a choking hazard.

Even if a lego did make it past Sam's esophagus and into her stomach I surely did not want to take her to the ER. They may wonder what I am feeding these kids. The staff would probably greet me by name and ask if the quarter has dropped.

Flashback to that one Mother's day and the Elijah quarter... That Mother's Day

Naptime has come and is now nearing to a close. I can only hope that the bugs' venom or whatever it's called-has gone through their system.

If you don't hear from me for a while I am most likely drunk or locked up in a padded room.