The Wild Wild Pee

Right before we left to pick up Ev from preschool I told Henry it was time for his potty break. "I want to pee standing up, LIKE DADDY!" he informed me. "Okay. We can try that, but I have to hold your penis to aim," I said. Now in hindsight, I clearly have no experience with such matters. He climbed onto a step stool, I tried to aim for him, and away he sprayed. It seriously shot out like water from a sprinkler head, only it was incorrectly aimed toward the lid of the potty, rather than into the water in the bowl. He stopped, then he started again with a forcefulness that resembled a squirt gun on a hot summer day. I even heard a loud whizzing sound. He slowly stopped, and dribbles went onto his undies, which were by his knees. I was laughing, and he said, "What are you laughing about, Mom? What's so funny?" He then peed some more, and it landed all over the back of the toilet's rim. I caught a whiff of something other than urine, and I said, "Oh, no!! Don't poop! Hurry. Turn around and sit down." He made it just in time, then he peed some more. Really? MORE pee pee? What in the world did I give the boy to drink this morning? Coffee? That was our first experience with stand up peeing, and it wasn't pretty. However, it was quite funny. That was my best laugh of the day. I prefer he continues to pee like a girl.

Henry has totally worn me out today. His tantrum count spread to my second hand by noon, and that's just plain ugly. I was up in the night giving my coughing Evelyn a breathing treatment. I then had to tend to crying Vivian who had four immunizations, a blood draw, and fluid in her eares yesterday. My patience was running thin by naptime when he threw a fit over a dinosaur book. He threw one over his desire to find and wear Olivia's ballet slippers while he and Evelyn danced to Wiggly Giggly music on a CD from Grandma Mary. He had a clothing meltdown in the 6 am hour about the need to remove CARS PJs to put on actual clothes for our drive to school. That led to a shoe issue with even bigger tears. My goodness. He flipped out over not getting to watch a movie this morning too. It is a good thing I always love him, no matter what. He's a mess, and I'm in no mood to clean.

On Valentine's Day Robbie brought each daughter a red rose. My own father often gave me a single rose on special occasions, and it always made me feel so very special. I have a few memories of my maternal grandfather taking me to buy flowers for my Grandma White, and the gift of flowers is so special. Robbie shocked me to no end with a pink roses delivery. He's too practical for such things very often. I was in the kitchen making dinner mid-afternoon, cleaning the kitchen, removing the art projects and Valentines from our table, and wiping food debris from the floor. I heard a knock and thought Anthony, who was expected in a few hours time, had surprised me with an early arrival. I just stood staring at the delivery guy. He finally offered me the vase and said, "There's a card right here." I guess I had a "who would send ME flowers?" look. The children got a ton of candy from school. We made some special XO and heart-shaped treats with them on Sunday. Robbie gave me a card with a personal note that made me feel extremely adored, and I felt most thankful for his presence in my life. We went to a great little restaurant that evening, and our meal was absolutely wonderful. It was a splurge with Christmas gift money pooled from all of our parents, so thanks, guys. We're not doing too much dining out these days. Best of all, when I asked the babysitter if the kids were okay, she said, "Oh, yes, of course. They're awesome! I love them." Then she left, and I felt very happy with that report.

I'm going to take a few minutes to finish The Boy in the Striped Pajamas before I kick into afternoon chores mode. Ev and Henry ran around the living room dancing their hearts out before naptime, so maybe they will rest well. One can hope, right?