Running on Empty

The kids have been sick this past week. Especially Jennabee who has been so needy and fussy. For a few days I only averaged 2-3 hours of sleep due to Jennabee and Ada waking up in the night and I feel like I'm still trying to catch up. So today, when everything started to fall apart, I thought I was going to go insane.

It started this morning when I made the mistake of giving kids leftover doughnuts for breakfast. The kids were literally bouncing off the walls--a sign of what was to follow. The rest of the day was filled with little things that alone weren't such a big deal, but collectively drove me mad. Things like Jennabee, Austin, and Hans throwing tons of rocks from the rock bed into the middle of the lawn. Or Jennabee emptying a new box of sandwich baggies all over the floor. Austin also dumped a package of crackers onto the floor and convinced Jennabee to join him in smashing them to bits. When Jennabee took off her diaper and peed and pooped on her bedroom floor (she knows how to use the toilet, she just refuses to do it) and it got smashed into the carpet, I didn't think I could handle anything else. But less than an hour later, Austin had knocked over a full cup of water behind the stove while I was trying to get dinner started. As I pulled out the stove to wipe up the water, I was holding back tears. Just then the corner of my eye caught a glimpse of something shiny on the floor where the stove once sat. Lo and behold, a colorful, foil wrapped, Cadbury Creme Egg was resting against the wall. It was the long lost egg from our Easter egg hunt a couple months ago. It had been sitting on the back of the stove and fell down behind it before anyone could find it.

Are you wondering if I ate it? I did and it was delicious! And did it make me feel better? A resounding YES! I was in dire need of refueling and as silly or childish as it might sound, finding that egg made me feel kind of special which was the kind of fuel I needed right at that moment.