Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for parenting
Not just Ems anymore
Unfortunately, Ben is now hacking, too. I had really hoped that maybe we could avoid the whole family getting sick before vacation, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. Emma did go back to daycare today, and she wasn’t feverish or feeling too badly, but she’s definitely not healthy by any stretch. Her cough is just so bad. And, as I type, I hear Ben coughing as much or more as his sister. 
I’m really hoping that the fever won’t come back for Ems and Ben will avoid getting it at all. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Poor Ems
Emma barfed again this morning, so she was home from Danielle’s today. The poor little girl had 103° temperature at one point, and she was just so droopy that it really broke my heart. Dave stayed home in the morning, and I came home from work in the afternoon to stay with her. We pumped her full of Motrin and Tylenol trying to keep that stinkin’ fever down. Luckily, she had a really good nap and seemed to be a bit perkier after that. I don’t think it’s anything more than a bad cold, so we’re not planning to go to the doctor anytime soon. Hopefully it will run its course, quickly, though, because she was pretty miserable today.
Home daycare day
Sadly, Danielle has been sick the last two days, and hasn’t been able to watch our kids. Yesterday Grandma Kerber was able to sit for us, which was a huge help. Today, though, I stayed home from school to watch the kids. Ali and AJ’s mom Addie was in a bit of a bind, so I told her that she could bring her kids over here, too. So technically, I was operating a home daycare at the house today.
The day started at 6:40. Ali & AJ arrived while my kids were having their breakfast, and they had brought theres along, so they were all up at the table eating together when Dave came downstairs to leave for work. “You’re crazy,” he said. “Good luck!!” With that and a couple of kisses good-bye, he was out the door and I was left completely outnumbered by toddlers. I was confidant that I could do this, but I wasn’t sure how easy it would be.
Actually, I was very pleasantly surprised. The kids entertained each other very well. There was no meltdown from Ben when I said that we were turning off the TV after breakfast. They all went downstairs and just played, played, played. AJ especially loved it down there, because there are so many cars, trucks and tractors that he could drive around. The big kids were excited to play up in Ben’s room for a while. It cracked me up to listen to them chatting away up there through the monitor. Just before lunch I did turn on “Merry Madagascar”, a Christmas cartoon we taped the other night, so I could fix everything. And after lunch, the big kids must have been re-energized because they were all crazy! By that time poor AJ was so tired that he just wanted to go to bed.
But…we had to stay up until it was time for Ben to go to preschool. We all loaded up in the van (which was NOT an easy job, let me tell ya) and headed to Tomorrow’s Promise. I met Addie’s mom there to drop off Ali & AJ, and Ems and I took Ben into class. After he was settled we headed home so Emma could take her nap. By 1:30 it was actually silent in the house, and let me tell you I was very thankful for this.
I’ve always known that I am not the stay at home Mom type, but the occasional day home with the kids is kind of fun. However, I now know that there is absolutely no way I could ever be a daycare provider in my home. I did it for 6 hours and I thought I may lose it a couple of times. My plans for getting laundry done, my Christmas cards stuffed and stamped, and dinner made were all dashed because I was so busy keeping peace and keeping the kids entertained. And that was with the kids all being mostly well-behaved! (When I say mostly, I mean that Ben and I had to have a few “talks” throughout the morning…the other three were all very well-behaved!) Anyway, I guess a day of perspective is good for us all. We’ve always appreciated Danielle, but right now that appreciation is at an all time high!
The finished product
I’ll admit that I was worried about decorating the tree this year. The kids were so excited to help and I knew they’d go at it full force with no regard to ornament placement at all. Anyone who knows me knows that this would be difficult for me. I love decorating the tree, and part of that is finding the perfect spot for each ornament. But when you’re two or four, it’s all about getting as many ornaments on the tree as quickly as possible in an area you can reach. Obviously we have very different approaches, which is a challenge.
Happily, though, I found that I could relax and let the kids hang their ornaments wherever they wanted. We had so much fun sorting through all of the ornaments…each one bringing back so many memories. The kids especially liked seeing the ones with pictures of them as infants. Emma couldn’t quite understand that the cute little baby was her. We kind of worked as a team…Dave was at the tree helping and I was at the ornament box pulling things out a little more carefully than they would have. As they hung more and more (most of them on the same few branches, of course) 
we all just had more and more fun. I will admit that we had to move several of the ornaments to other branches later, but the kids didn’t really notice, so they were satisfied and proud that they did it all by themselves. It was so awesome to watch them have so much fun doing this. I was happy I could let them!
We had such a great time, and we ended up with a gorgeous tree again.
Ahh…I love me some Thanksgiving
Last Thanksgiving I wrote about how thankful I am for all of the blessings in my life…and at the top of that list of blessings sit my loving husband and wonderful kids. So this year I thought I should probably change it up a little bit for my Thanksgiving post. Unfortunately, I can’t even pretend that I am thankful for anything more than Dave, Emma & Ben. They truly make my heart full and my life complete.
I hope that anyone who reads this blog has the same kind of happiness I feel on a daily basis. Sure, the kids make me crazy sometimes, and Dave and I bicker more than I’d like, but my life is truly filled with three monumental blessings.
I hope that I can always remember how lucky I am when the little stuff gets in the way.
I truly am thankful, but not just on this Thanksgiving night.
- I am thankful when I have to get up in the middle of the night to someone yelling, “MOMMY!”
- I am thankful when I and trying to get dinner on the table and someone’s at my side begging for attention.
- I am thankful when I’m the only one who can stop the fights, the fits, or the tears.
- I am thankful for the arms thrown around me every day for giant hugs.
- I am thankful for the millions of smiles and giggles that fill up this house.
- I am thankful that I get to hear, “I love you” absolutely every day of the year.
I’ll say it again…Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I hope you stay thankful all year, too.
Early shopping
I have never been an early Christmas shopper. I like shopping when I’m in the Christmas spirit. And it super annoys me when people skip over Thanksgiving…my favorite holiday of the year. But this year, since we’re leaving for Florida on the 18th, I feel more urgency and stress surrounding our holidays. So this afternoon Dave and I started shopping for the kids. We went to Farm & Fleet with the intention of simply browsing and getting ideas, but we ended up getting several gifts for the kids that we think they will love. We also got a few gifts for some friends, and more importantly, we got organized. That helped me calm down a lot. Later, while grocery shopping, I even picked up some stocking stuffers! Me…buying stocking stuffers in November…when it’s still fall outside and our Christmas lights, while already hung due to nice weather, will not be turned on until the day after Thanksgiving. Unheard of!
I still hate shopping early, and I did miss shopping while being caught up in the spirit of the holidays. But you gotta do what you gotta do, and if being ready to leave on December 18th means I have to shop early, I’ll gladly do it.
Ali’s birthday party
Ali is truly one of our kids’ best friends, and tonight we got to celebrate her fourth birthday with her and a lot of other friends. We were at All About Fun in Danvers, IL, which is a big building that has inside it a bouncy house, an air hockey table, a fooseball table, tricycles, hippity hops, chalkboards, and an apparently endless supply of little plastic balls to throw around aimlessly. The place is awesome. Needless to say, everyone had so, so, so much fun.
There’s really no better way to describe the night than with the pictures
I was snapping like a madwoman. I took a million of them, but I think this one sums the night really well. You can’t get the full impression of the place, but the kids all pretty much had the same expressions at all times…one of pure joy!
My favorite picture of the night, though, is this one. It was taken while we were all singing to Ali, and I absolutely love the look being shared by her and Ben. When I saw it on my camera, I said to Ali’s mom, “Look, we can use this on their engagement announcement!” We always call them an old married couple, anyway.
We all had so much fun at that party. It’s really cool seeing Ben and Emma play with and care about their friends. It’s really the start of a phase I am looking forward to…getting to know the kids they choose to be their friends.
Welcome home, Mommy!
When I talked to Dave from Springfield last night, he told me that the kids would be very excited to see me today when I got home. But I had no idea how right he was!
When I walked in the door, I realized that the kids were downstairs with Dave. As I started down the steps, I heard Dave say, “I think someone may be home…” Then the screaming began. “MOMMY!” As I hit the basement floor, Ben threw himself at me for a huge hug, and Emma was soon to follow. They both came back for more hugs and kisses repeatedly in that first few minutes. That awesome reception surprised me. But even more of a surprise was how often the same scene has been repeated today. While I haven’t gotten any more screams out of the kids (not necessarily a bad thing) I have gotten LOTS of hugs and kisses and have been told over and over that they missed me so much.
I had a great time at the conference, and really enjoyed reconnecting several professional relationships. But nothing compared to today…coming home is always a treat, and this time it was even more so.
Parent/teacher conferences
Today was parent/teacher conference day at school. The kids got to sleep in while many of the teachers worked harder than they normally do.
While this is easily one of the most dreaded days of the year for most teachers, we librarians absolutely love it! Conference day is one that we get to work absolutely uninterrupted, and it’s so nice to actually get some projects done. We did have to go to a morning meeting, but it wasn’t too long and it was a small group of other librarians, so it was not bad at all.
Believe me; I remember having conferences all day very well. It wasn’t all that long ago that I sat at one of those tables trying to convince parents that their students were either doing really well, or needed to do a lot more to be successful. Neither scenario is really all that great. So these days, I try hard not to rub it in that we get the day to work on our own without dealing with parents much at all. Some teachers appreciate our situation, and others just whine about it to us. I always say the same thing, “Hey, they’re offering classes at ISU to become a librarian…you’re free to take them and then get hired somewhere so you can have this one beneficial day!” That usually shuts them right up.
It got me, too!
Ugh…there is nothing worse than Mommy getting sick! But I couldn’t avoid it, and yesterday and today I have felt miserable. I haven’t been nausious, or had a fever, but I literally feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck. I have had no energy at all, and even when I am out of bed, I end up laying on the couch and falling asleep. I have slept more in the last two days than I have in the last two weeks, I think! It sucks.
I hope that I can go to work tomorrow, because Emma is still full of fever, and she’ll be staying home with Grandma. They certainly don’t need me home sick, too! I just hope that this will be our entire round of sickness for the winter. Wouldn’t we be lucky to have that happen…
