Things went pretty well yesterday till about 5 p.m. That is the bewitching hour. Parents are getting tired, kids are getting tired, and dinner has not been cooked yet.
Kari had just gotten Madison to sleep in the swing. Which was quite an accomplishment since Madison is still under the weather and very fussy. The big girls had just been released from their high chairs, having just eaten dinner. Well, Reagan ate dinner and Rylee pushed hers around with a spoon and cried. I was trying to fix some chicken for us big people while Reagan followed me around, arms out stretched in the "Up!" position, screaming for attention.
5:46:32 p.m The Meltdown: This is when it all really fell apart.
Jordan was crying, Reagan was crying, Rylee was whining, Kari was grumpy, I was grumpy, and the chicken was burning. I got a little frustrated and raised my voice to Reagan, "Reagan! Thats enough! You have to wait till dad is done cooking."
Reagan replied "NO!" and continued crying, only louder. This interaction aroused Madison, the only one who was quiet.
"Thanks!" Kari said as she put Jordan down and went to fetch Madi.
Then Rylee upped the ante by wetting her pants and having a major conniption fit. Now every one is crying, I am trying to prevent Rylee from running to a carpeted area, she is slipping around in her own urine and the dogs rush in to investigate. Reagan has a hold of one leg of my shorts with both hands, howling at the top of her lungs, while I am holding Rylee, who is squirming like a greased pig, by the back of her shirt and fending the dogs off with my free leg. I paused for a moment, wondering which action should be taken first.
"Take her to the potty!" Kari said, her voice just shy of a yell.
So I took her to the bathroom and she sat on the potty for a bit and calmed down. Sitting on the potty was kind of moot at this point since all the pee was on the kitchen floor, but I guess you need to reinforce that the potty is where you run to when you have to go. Kari was trying to clean up the pee before Reagan and the dogs got into it with Madi in her arms and Jordan crying in the background.
"What is that burning smell?" is what I started to wonder as I was wiping Rylee's legs off.
"Chicken!!"
It was a little overdone. I don't know what I was thinking, trying to cook with all four kids awake is not a sure way to prepare the perfect meal. It was still edible, however we didn't get around to eating it for several more hours.
So the potty training is not going as smoothly as I had hoped. After seeing how excited Rylee was about going potty the first time I figured that this was going to be a breeze. But now, for some reason, she doesn't even want to sit on it. So we have some work ahead of us.
Kari said that the twins did pretty well last night. They slept a little bit more that they normally do. Kari still didn't get to bed till about 6:40 a.m. at which point we switched and I was back on duty.
I heard the big girls out of bed and playing, but they were still quiet enough that I had time to make coffee. At 7:19 Rylee really let out a scream, it was the "I'm hurt!" cry, and I wasted no time getting up to their room. When I opened the door I saw Reagan standing knee deep in clothing that had been removed from the chest of drawers, again. I could still hear Rylee crying but I could not see her. I took a couple more steps into the room, searching for my oldest daughter. I knelt down and looked under the bed. Nothing. I followed the crying to the chest of drawers that Reagan was holding shut. It took a little maneuvering to get the bottom drawer open and reveal Rylee's tear stained face. I do wish that I could have seen how all this came about and I do wonder if Reagan was holding that drawer shut or if she was trying to help. At any rate, Reagan didn't seem too concerned.
It was a busy morning for me. Even on her days off Hilda will come down stairs and help out a little. Even someone to distract a child for a few minutes is a big help. But, Hilda went to the Rodeo with Mary Ellen yesterday and spent the night with her, so I was on my own till Kari got up about noon. Now I know how she felt when I was doing the night shift.