Ok, I’m not updating daily as I originally intended. My bad, but I really don’t need another thing on the to-do list. Take today, for example…
I woke up with the baby at 6:30 and had all three of us (Nick, Abby, and myself) fed, dressed, and out the door by 8:15 to go to Mom N Me at our church. The program doesn’t actually start until 9, but I need to get there early because I’m on the steering committee and it’s my responsibility to make the coffee. We had to leave in the middle of the presentation because Abby was crying inconsolably and pulling on her ears.
Ear infection? An 11 am last-minute doctor’s appointment said no, just fluid in the ears, most likely from teething.
Got to the toy library by noon, and good thing because we actually had quite a bit of traffic today because our add was printed in the latest issue of Clipper Magazine, which just came out. Nicholas had his OT appointment at 2, which (thankfully) we can do right here at Tiny Toes. Cue pop-in visit from ad sales. Cue phone call informing me that Kirsten (my employee) has fallen down the steps while 6 months pregnant. Thank God mom and baby are both alright, aside from being a bit sore, but she will be in the hospital overnight for observation.
Kept the kids with me until after 5, when Eddie was able to pick them up. They were actually really good today, all things considered.
Continued to play phone tag all day with a reporter. Guess we won’t be able to schedule that interview for tonight after all. For the best, because I’m exhausted. I still have two more hours and a story time to do before I can crash in front of American Idol.
Coming in early tomorrow to open for our playgroup. Mommy needs a nap. Why did I think running a business and keeping the kids with me all day was going to be such a great idea?
The Media Loves Me
Ok, that sounds totally full of myself. What I guess I should say is that I have discovered a hidden talent for writing press releases that seem to get a lot of attention. The latest one has gotten me into a bit of a pickle. You see, I recently partnered with the ladies from Atomic Bounce, another mom-owned business in our area, and we decided to send out another press release about ourselves as momtrepreneurs. So I wrote it and sent it out and about three hours later I had a lady from channel 8 on the phone wanting an interview.
Great! Slight problem, though. The header of the press release said something along the lines of “with dads being laid off and families stretched to their limits in this economy, some stay at home moms are going into business for themselves…” True enough, and it got their attention like I knew it would, but my husband (thankfully) is gainfully employed, and as far as I know so are the Atomic Bounce dads. Of course, the reporter wants to do a story with a group of moms who are struggling more now than they used to be. Of course, I tell her it will be no problem to get a group of these moms together to do an interview. Of course, I agree to schedule everything. Dumb? Maybe, but I think I actually can find a few moms who at least sort of fit that description, so hopefully I’ll be able to pull it off.
At home we’ve been battling a stomach virus for almost a week. Nicholas got sick last Saturday, but only for a few hours. I was next, so I missed several days of work this week, and then Eddie caught it much worse than anyone. Luckily his mom came and swept the kids away for a few days, hoping we could keep Abby away from the germs as much as possible. We’re going to pick them up later today. It’s been quiet without them!
Moving On Up (Without Even Trying)
Yay! I finally had some families come to bedtime stories tonight! Two moms who were friends brought their children. They were very sweet and complimentary. The best part was the way they heard about Tiny Toes. The Jewish Community Center, which operates one of the largest preschool programs in our area, had sent out a mass email to their parents that I didn’t even know about! They were on my list of places to contact about handing out fliers, etc., but they beat me to it.
It was a pretty long day because the one employee I have is sick, so I had the kids with me at work for almost six hours before Eddie could pick them up. Nicholas wound up falling asleep on the floor (of a room that was not his bedroom) for the first time in his life, the poor guy was so exhausted. I hope Kirsten is feeling better for her sake and mine because I have three appointments and a dinner date scheduled for tomorrow that I’m going to have to cancel if she’s still sick, plus I’m sure she’d much rather be hanging out with kids and toys than home feeling yucky.
Time to call it a night and head home.
Visit Me on Pinterest
When’s My Next Vacation?
I love my children. I really do, I swear. But in the past 24 hours I have been thrown up on twice, peed on once (twice if you counting being up at 1am having to change pajamas and sheets), bitten multiple times, and bled on. I’m also continuing to fight a loosing battle against the couch cushions. I did manage to sew two sets of curtains for our newly remodeled kitchen, though, thanks to my mom who drove up from Baltimore to help out with the kids for a few hours. It was a very productive visit, since we also managed to order the food for my sister’s college graduation party. Did I mention we’re hosting a graduation party for my sister this weekend? Well, we are.
I also finished an article I was writing and submitted it to a parenting magazine. I’ll have to wait to see if it gets accepted before I can submit it to any others since they like to know your article will be exclusive if they decide to publish it.
Eddie must be on cloud nine because after his ski trip the Ravens won their play-off game against the Patriots and he just found out he got a raise! I’m hoping some of his luck will rub off on me because I could really use a nice pick-me-up to combat the major burn-out I’ve been feeling lately.
We have been trying to plan a trip to Florida for the spring since our friends have offered us a room in their home and our Disney credit card has a few hundred reward points on it now that we could use to take the kids to the Magic Kingdom. I’m not sure I’m going to last four more months.
I really want to do another overnight at the Marriot in Lancaster, where I went with my friend Lauren for our Black Friday shopping trip. The restaurant in that hotel, the Pen Square Grill, is amazing. If it’s still around in twenty years I might try to convince my children to have their wedding receptions there. Maybe I could can convince Eddie to use some of that raise money to take me on a Valentine’s Day overnight trip next month…. although… Martin Luther King Day is next week. That would be even better.
The Ol’ Switcheroo
Well, God certainly has a way of sending you what you need when you need it. Earlier this morning I was at the toy library, up to my ears in paperwork for the state taxes (which I think I’ m finally finished) and the kids were driving me insane. Nicholas was trying to draw on the walls with a highlighter and I’d already had to reprint a few forms from the government website because they’d gotten into Abby’s hands as she was sitting on my lap while I was trying to work. By the way, that’s not a method of tax preparation that I would recommend.
Normally Saturday is my day to catch up on paperwork and cleaning while I’m at work because Eddie can keep the kids home for the three hours the toy library is open, but since this is his annual ski weekend that wasn’t an option and I couldn’t wait until next week because the tax forms need to be mailed before then. Also, neither of my kids slept well at all last night, which left them very whiny and me very inpatient.
Anyway, I was getting really frustrated and was about to vent via this blog since we didn’t have any customers. I started typing a post entitled “All of the Reasons I’d Like to Pull My Hair Out Right Now.” Literally, before I had even finished the first sentence the door opened and a mother came in with her son who was only a month older than Nicholas. She had seen us on the news and, although she was supposed to be working today, she had used half a day of vacation time to come to the toy library with her son. Coincidentally, her husband was also skiing, but instead of staying here in Pennsylvania like Eddie did so that he can be home in the evenings, her husband had flown to Colorado for the entire week for his ski trip and left her to take care of their family’s real estate development business and their son.
She stayed for about an hour and spoke to me about all the trouble she had been having developmentally with her son. I think she was just glad to have an open ear, but his issues, which, without going into too much detail, were pretty much the exact opposite of my son’s, made Nicholas’ seem more manageable in comparison. By the time she left my heart felt much lighter and my patience had returned, at least for the time being.
So instead of my original post, I am going to make a list of all of the reasons I have to not pull my hair out:
- I have a wonderful, kind, patient, encouraging, doting husband who also happens to be a wonderful father.
- My goal was to have one adopted child and one biological child and move closer to family before I turned 30. I got all of that within one year, and 6 years before my target date. I was also blessed with healthy, happy, social children who both seem to have a genuine joy for life.
- I have been successful at overcoming a lot of obstacles to start a small business in a less than stellar economy.
- We have a lot of family and they are all close by and willing to help when we need it.
- I have strong friendships, many of which I have been able to maintain for ten years or more.
- My father holds our mortgage, so I know no matter what happens to us financially, we will always have a roof over our heads.
- I have a good education
- My house might be ugly inside, but it is extremely well-built and in a very safe neighborhood.
- Although I am still not thrilled about my post-baby body, I am healthy and I’m sure there are a lot of women who would actually like to be able to say they are a size 12.
I’m sure there are more, but Abby just woke up from her nap, so off I go…
What You’re Saying