Friday, April 30, 2010

The calm, playing outside and the storm

For the second time in seven months, my alarm went off at 7a and I woke up to it. When I got up, Nikko was babbling to himself but the other two weren't quite awake yet. The diaper changing was smooth and we ended up at the breakfast table where I realized that all three kids were acting... good. It was unbelievable. No one, especially Ronin, had displayed any drama, so breakfast was pleasant. And probably rare. Nikko's school report was uneventful. Tomorrow they will be going to a local farm for a field trip. And then right after lunch we are supposed to join the other Alogs for a visit to the Morton Arboretum, where there are gardens and birds. I haven't been there since working at the Castle, but it's supposed to be very nice. I'm still debating on which stroller(s) to bring or who to make walk.

Aftr lunch today I geared up the troops and took them to Costco. I didn't forget to bring Nikko's Costco card. I showed it at the door, then gave it to him to carry. Instead of putting Nikko in the cart I let him walk and he seemed to enjoy that. We came home and I quickly put freezer groceries away. It was a blustery, warm day so I decided to let the kids play in the backyard. We had a snack at the little picnic table in our backyard, then moved to the driveway for the construction toys. Audrey was getting very antsy and crabby so I put her in the umbrella stroller and invited the boys to take a walk. Ronin wanted to go to the playground but I told him we would go find some trains. I really wanted to avoid going to the school playground because there's no way I could properly supervise Ronin trying to climb the equipment, Audrey running haphazardly and also trying to climb, and Nikko running, climbing and getting into other people's spaces. Despite the wind that threatened to knock us to our feet, everybody enjoyed walking at a slow pace under the warm sunlight. We got to a corner two blocks away from the house, which was a good vantage point to see Metra trains whiz by. Audrey got antsy again so I gave her a dandelion. It enchanted her. Bingo! Ronin enjoyed seeing two big Metra trains come by within minutes of each other. Nikko was strolling in the lawn next to the street so I had to verbally haul him back to us. We walked back home and surprisingly Nikko didn't continue to bolt up the block toward the school. But when it was time to bring everyone inside the house for dinner, Nikko didn't go willingly. I had to chase him down a little, coax him with tickles, and then literally push him inside.

The kids had dinner and Nikko kept putting the Alice in Wonderland DVD in my hands. I let them watch it while I tried to eat some dinner. For one instance I sat here and thought, Well this is nice, I can let them watch TV peacefully and I can get a quiet moment to eat. Boy was that short-lived. I poked my head into the living room to check on them and I saw Nikko standing on the couch near the armchair with a hand over the side of the couch, looking at me guiltily... then I caught a whiff of the scent. I ran to Nikko and saw that he had reached into the back of his diaper and put a small pile of poo on top of the couch. His hands were covered. I seized his wrists for a few seconds so I could think of what to do next. I ordered Ronin to keep Audrey away from the couch, then picked up Nikko under his arms and ran to the tub. I put him in, turned on the water, put foam soap in his hands and told him I'd be right back. Nikko settled under the faucet and was content to sit in the water. I raced back to the living room armed with Carpet Resolve, paper towels and a bag, and started cleaning up. Unfortunately, I am running dangerously low on Carpet Resolve so the spray was sudsing up at the spout. I had to unscrew the spout and tilt the bottle so the long pipe would catch the liquid at the right angle to produce a bigger spray. When I came back to the bathroom to hose Nikko down, the doorbell rang. It was the UPS guy, waiting for me to open the door to give me a package. I don't know why he waited, and didn't need my signature, but he said he had forgotten this package and that's why it was late. Oh yeah, and while this all took place, I had a loaf of bread in the oven that was just about ready when the doorbell rang. The oven alarm was bleeping in the background to remind me not to burn the house down. Needless to say, I was glad when I got all the kids in their beds.

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