Oy What a Day!

Well, it's my own fault for not going to sleep until very very late (I was watching "Only You", the Marissa Tomei/Robert Downey Jr. movie). Sofia came into bed with me at some point, so from about 5:30 on I was awake trying to avoid her stretching legs.

She eventually dragged me out of bed to take her to the potty and feed her. The boys got up to watch TV, and I went back to sleep for a bit. I woke when David phoned in.

After I spoke to David, I realized Sofia had locked herself in the bathroom. I found her stark naked, "wiping" herself with a bit of toilet paper. She was fairly purple from cold!

So I cuddled her on my lap under the covers....until she pee'd on my leg.

Got up, got everyone fed (despite Sofia suddenly crying and demanding to be held the whole time), took a shower, and got us off to shul for Sukkot services.

Stumbled into shul, carrying my purse, Micah's med kit, my tallis (prayer shawl, in it's bag), the 2 books I was to read to the Children's Service, and the toy lulav & etrog. Found a row of seats for my clan.

I was trying to keep them all in their seats, stop the boys from arguing over the real lulav & etrog (which we'd picked up upon arrival at shul), keep Sofia from wandering, keep Sam from making Sofia yell by holding her too tightly, and pray, when my friend S came over with his two kids. The kindergartener loves Sam, and the 2 year old is my buddy. Since his mommy was not there, I was the next best thing. Which meant I had to hold onto his hand with my left hand, hold lulav & etrog in my right hand, use my knees to shepherd Sofia, and keep leaning over to stop the boys from arguing!

Eventually that part of the service was done, and it was time to take the kids upstairs for Children's Service. I knew I was supposed to be reading the stories, but I'd sort of forgotten to prep for the rest of the service. Fortunately, there was one family where the dad and 2 sons knew a lot of the answers to my "questions"...

I lead a discussion about the holiday, about the various symbols and customs, etc. Then I read a cute story, "Bubbe Isabella and the Sukkot Cake." Some of the older kids watched Sofia and kept her from leaving (or eating the Cheerios that were being prepped for the craft).

My co-chair led the craft (stringing Fruity Cheerios on pipe cleaners to decorate the sukkah), and another friend taught a song. We were planning to do another story out in the Sukkah, but the Rabbi came up and said he wanted the kids back in the sanctuary so he could tell a story.

So we took them all downstairs. Most of the kids sat fairly nicely in the front row while Rabbi talked, but Miss Sofia decided to explore the bimah ("stage"), so I was kept busy running after her. Eventually she settled in one of the comfy chairs ON the bimah, reading a prayer book, with her legs up and her head leaning on the side of the chair!

Well, we thought that the service was almost done, but after the Rabbi's story, the Cantor started in on the Supplemental Service (Musaf). There was no way all those kids would sit quietly for that long, so I herded them all out to the Sukkah, where they strung up their decorations and I read the other story. Another mom lead them in a little game, and we were about to sing a song when the rest of the congregation came out for the end of the service (which is where kids can participate more again).

Once I was "off duty" from the Children's Service, my daughter took over constant movement. I got her in to the Social Hall for lunch, but she was trying to be independent at the buffet table, and another mom almost fed her noodle kugel (which she now can't have because of the wheat). And Sofia was getting very crabby and stubborn, so she was yelling at me a lot.

Eventually I got her to eat, which gave me a moment to rest. The boys are on their own at lunch, because they have plenty of friends there. So I folowed Sofia around the building until I couldn't stand it any longer.

Sam went home with our friends (the family that did the Buddy Walk with us), but Micah was not able to find a playdate, so he came home with me. I felt bad for him, but I was also glad, because he has been having so much trouble breathing.

We drove a bit until Sofia fell asleep, but she woke up when we got home. i put in a movie and we all rested a bit until E arrived. I also spoke to the allergist and the pediatrician, and Micah has an appointment at peds tomorrow morning.

Then Micah and I went to Home Depot, trying to see if we could replace our old sukkah (which is still in the garage because I can't take it out by myself) with something more portable, but no luck. Then off to Sudbury to drop him at his piano lesson. I gave another mom my cell phone number, and then raced back to Natick to pick up Sam and bring him back to Sudbury just in time for their Tae Kwan Do class.

In the car on the way home, Sam was trying to figure out how the Earth revolves around the Sun and how seasons happen and how they are different on opposite sides of the world. It was a cute conversation. His mind just takes off on different tangents. He wanted to use the telescope tonight, but it's very cloudy.

Got home around 6:15. E had taken Sofia for a stroller walk, and Miss Sofia was asleep when they came back, but again she did not stay awake on transfer. But it wasn't my problem - I was going out to dinner!

R and I met at Samba, and awesome sushi (and tepanyaki) restaurant. Watermelon Martinis and some excellent sushi. Yum.

E text-messaged me while I was at dinner; Micah was freaking out about his breathing, so he's in my bed now. He was still awake when I got home, but now he's sleeping. I gave him Benadryl, which probably helped, too.


Whew! Oh, and I'm a bit freaked out from watching the new Christian Slater show, "My Own Worst Enemy", last night. Let's see, a family man, consultant, who travels frequently for work, but when he's travelling, he's really reverting to his original personality which is some sort of secret agent operative....David called, and I asked if he was really in Mexico, or actually in Russia...

Ok, got to get some sleep tonight. I'm a little nervous about tomorrow. We'll take Sofia to school, and the boys and I are going to try to get the sukkah out of the garage. Then Micah had peds at 11, and my neighbor will pick up Sofia at 11:30. But if Micah ends up needing an xray, I'll have to get Sofia and bring her and Sam over to my other friend's house first.

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Tee hee hee. I just noticed that my last three posts go from "what a glorious day" to "not a bad day" to "oy what a day!". I can't wait for the boys to go back to school on Thursday!