Thursday, September 22, 2011

What A Day

This is my nephew Callum:


Darling, huh?  Well his personality is darling too.  He is friendly, affectionate, and smart.  He hugs anyone, says that "Aunt Rachel" is his best friend, and rarely throws temper tantrums.  Whenever he sees Noah, he says in an exuberant voice, "Hi, Baby Noah!" and insists on giving him a sloppy kiss.

Though he couldn't possibly be any sweeter, Callum can still be a handful because he has more energy than even your average 2.5-year-old.

I think I temporarily forgot that when I offered to run errands with him and Noah this morning.  Cranky 7-week-old  +  Active 2.5-year-old + Multiple errands = Exhausting disaster.

My sister designs jewelry, and she has a big sale coming up this next weekend, so she asked if I could watch Callum this morning while she got some orders made.  I agreed, but when I showed up at her house to pick him up, she said, "While you're gone, I'm going to run to the post office to mail a few of my orders and then to the muffin place  because my groupon expires today."

"Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of me watching Callum so you can work on jewelry?" I asked.  "We can run the errands while we're out."

She looked skeptical.  "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," I insisted.

And so off we drove on our blissful little adventure.  We rolled down the windows and looked at the trucks passing by.  We sang "If You're Happy and You Know It."  The skies were blue and a slight breeze was blowing...and then a cop pulled up behind me with his lights on.

Confused, I looked down at my spedometer.  "I'm only going 43," I thought.  "He must want me to pull over so he can pass by and continue on to an accident or something."

No such luck.  As he was walking up to our car, Noah started screaming and Callum started yelling, "Hi, Policeman!  Hi, Policeman!"  I thought this might work in my favor, but the cop didn't even seem to notice.

"I thought the speed limit was 40," I said when he told me I'd been speeding.

"Yes, but this a school zone.  So right now the speed limit is 30, and you were going 13 over."

I almost said the d-word, but I remembered that I had virgin ears in the backseat, so I refrained.

As we pulled away, a nice $100 ticket in hand, Noah seemed as upset about the ticket as I was--he started crying and didn't stop for the next hour.  As much as I appreciated his empathy, I kind of wished he would put a sock in it.

Remember last summer when I got a speeding ticket on my way to church?  And a year later, I'm getting a ticket as I try to do a favor for my sister??  It just isn't right.

So we continued on to the post office, and the line was massively long, so I decided to do the self-service station.  Noah was screaming, and Callum was running around pulling envelopes off of the shelves.  I told him to stop, so he started doing something else exciting--banging on the side of the counter.  It was super loud, and everyone was staring, so I said, "Callum, please don't make a scene."

"But I need to make a scene, Aunt Rachel!  I need to!" he insisted.

I shouldn't have laughed, but I couldn't help it.  This kid is too much.  I got him to come over and help me push the buttons on the self-service screen, but as soon as I put him down, he ran back to the counter and started banging, saying over and over, "I need to make a scene!  I need to make a scene."

Well, you succeeded, Callum.  We definitely made a scene!

So then it was on to the muffin shop.  Callum helped me pick out the flavors of the muffins, and he said he wanted the chocolate one.  I guess the lady behind the counter thought he meant immediately because she handed it to him while I was paying and didn't notice.  (She obviously does not have children.)  When I turned around, he was literally covered in chocolate, as was the floor all around him.

Noah was still crying.

I was planning to take them to the park afterward, but when the box of muffins spilled while I was buckling them into their carseats, I decided it was time to go home.

I have never been so exhausted.

My biggest question is...how do mothers of two children run errands???  How about three...four...five children??  Do they ever leave their houses?

I might not---at least not with Callum! :)

16 comments:

  1. This is why they don't come in age-spread groups in nature. If you gave birth to a 2.5 year old and newborn at the same time, no one would ever make it. You get used to having one first. You get used to their quirks, and then you add one more. And you only make trips to the post office VERY rarely.

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  2. Heehee. Great post. I love my wild child! Thanks for running my errands!

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  3. Hahahahahahaha! Ahhh, I'll admit... this was a good read! Not that I glory in your trials, but it is nice to hear that it's not just me pulling my hair out sometimes! 2 kids is totally a handful and I agree... how do others do MORE kids? One of my best friends growing up has 5 kids under age 7 (two adopted) and she blows me away. I feel like whenever we plan a trip to the zoo (or anywhere!) it takes me as much time to get ready as we spend out. It is so much work! I really lucked out with Weston, because he's usually so well tempered and it allows me to spend most my energy containing the 2.5 year old! I love that you just laughed at the post office though... marks of a good mom! It's so easy to lose your cool. Sorry about the ticket though!!! Your sis owes ya big! :)

    PS. totally random, but I just finished Catcher in the Rye and thought of you... mostly I just wanted to "book talk" with you. :) And hear all your fabulous insights, because it was a weird one to me!

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  4. Ha! This is my life. It may look so fun to have two kids but it is exhausting. It is nice that your kids have good days too where they do listen and behave but there are lots of crazy, fun, bad days that we'll laugh about someday.
    Thayne used to say that he wanted to be the stay at home dad when we had one kid but not when we had two. Going to school/work was easier than juggling two kids. Love them though! They make me so happy even though they are soooooo much work.

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  5. I ponder this very question about multiple children daily. DAILY.

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  6. You are such a good storyteller. "I NEED to make a scene." HAHA. That is too funny. Not that I was happy you had a hard day, you just painted such a vivid picture. I think we have all had days somewhat like that. It's good when you reach a point that you can chuckle about it.

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  7. I just want to share one of President Heber J. Grant's favorite sayings (it has become one of mine and has been an incredible source of support to me: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased” (Gospel Standards, p. 355).

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  8. That is such a classic story! I think my favorite part was "I need to make a scene." How is he so precocious?!? I wish he loved his Aunt Laura that much. I need to see him more often. :(

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  9. bribery, pure bribery! If we go to target, I always spend the 2 bucks it costs to get the popcorn soda combo. it keeps my kids quite and sitting down. At Costo, we always go straight to the book section, they pick books to read while in the store. PURE BRIBERY!!!!!!! You will learn fast enough what it takes getting kids through a store!!!

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  10. Ha ha! Fantastic. Believe me, it doesn't ever get any better. I just flat out DON'T take all 4 of mine anywhere if I can help it. Recently we tried the Dr. with all 4. Not pretty.

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  11. It's easy. You have them 5 3/4 years apart. Charlie requires perfect timing for any errand and Ada is the world's BEST helper. I forget sometimes she's a kid and not a mini-Nanny. She LOVES him and LOVES being a helper. If he starts to cry, she turns to him, pops a pacifier in his mouth, and breaks into a rendition of "Sing" by the Carpenters.

    If my children were 2 years apart I would lose my mind.

    ;-)
    xoxo

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  12. Oh. My. GOODNESS. That sounds like quite the morning. And sorry about the ticket :(

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  13. You get weaned into it!!!!!!!! It's not an overnight thing! Like this! lol

    PLUS: that's what leashes are for. lol THey make cute Piglet ones now. Totally kosher. (aka legal) LOL

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  14. I just came across your blog as I was looking at adoption blogs and I haven't been able to get anything done for the last hour. I've just been reading and crying. You are a wonderful writer. I lost my mom 12 years ago to cancer and am in the process of adoption right now. It is so helpful to read your experiences, since they mirror my emotions right now so much. Thank you for sharing this blog for everyone to read (even people you've never met)!

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  15. This post reminds me of EVERY day of my life. Kids are so hard. They ruin your life, make you mad, drive you crazy, and after that you still love them so much you can't hardly believe it.

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  16. What a funny kid. Aren't kids good at embarrassing us? Little Noah will be doing the same thing in no time!

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