left behind

I forgot my password, it's been so long!

So much is going on... so many things I'd like to say, so many things I can't get out.

My friend, Susan, is very, very sick. And I'm sick at heart and completely unable to talk about it without lots of tears. (If you've read Susan's blog, or just want to leave her a message of encouragement, you can do it on this Facebook page.) My mother-in-law is sick. My brother is sick. It's entirely possible that I cause cancer. (forgive my lame attempt at humor)

The crazy thing about life though, it that it keeps going on. Despite the fact that my heart is heavy, I still have to make 18 meals a day, drive 25 carpools a week, wash 2 loads of laundry a day, and tuck, cajole, prod, celebrate, encourage and nurture the 4 little people I'm in charge of.

That's a good thing because otherwise, I think I'd be sitting on my sofa in front of Lifetime TV with a gallon of Rocky Road.

This weekend, we were invited to a birthday party. We arrived in 2 cars with all four kids. Shout and Cheer were supposed to stay at the party with me, and Tide and Bounce were supposed to go home with Laundry Dad. I'm not sure how it happened, but Cheer went home and only Shout stayed at the party. It took about 15 minutes of searching and a few text messages to figure out what happened.

Then, later the same day, we went to a Super Bowl party in the same fashion. Two cars. At the end, I grabbed Shout (who desperately needed to get to bed) and told one of the other kids that I would take her, "Dad should take THREE."

A little while later, I got a text from the mom who hosted the party. "Um... Cheer is still here."

Laundry Dad pulled into the driveway moments later, dropped the two kids in the car off and went back for Cheer.

I guess I have to congratulate myself that this is the first time in nearly 14 years of parenting that's happened. Right?

I think the solution is that we need to all arrive in one car.