Hit rockbottom

Friday was a bad day. How did it start? Gosh, I can't really remember now, but I'm pretty certain that B was still upset that she had to go back to school. If memory serves, Friday morning was much like a lot of mornings with the whining and complaining that she "hates school" and doesn't want to go. Guess what, sister! We've ALL been there! She also whined nonstop since Thursday since she had a playdate with her classmate. She wanted him to have a sleepover that night, then she wanted him to have a playdate here. And that was all she wanted to talk about. All. Night. Long. And. Into. The. Morning.

For some unknown reason I seemed pretty emotional and DH hit my last nerve very early in the day. He was walking from our bedroom to the stairs and I was on the couch. I mentioned to him that he should watch the next segment on The Today Show since he might find it humorous. The bit was on how men who are good dancers are more attractive to women. Lemme say that if you haven't seen my DH shake his groove thing, the man can dance. He's been described as having liquid hips. I thought he might just watch the bit for a laugh, but no. He asked me what it would be about, I said "wait and see". He got annoyed and said he had to work and went upstairs. At that point I didn't even want to watch the bit. Oh, so sorry sir! Didn't realize that you were working. You just changed out of trackpants into your lounge pants...didn't realize you were on the clock yet.

Honestly, I know this all sounds so stupid and trivial, but gosh, is it annoying. Sheesh. Every day he's home, I have no idea whether I am allowed to speak to him or whether he's working. He can come down from his office for a drink or to get something and he'll talk to me. I just never seem to know which guy I'm getting. Meanwhile, I'm used to working in an office setting where you could actually TALK to people when you saw them. Okay, I lie. You didn't smile or look at and acknowledge the people you passed in the main corridors if you didn't know them, but in your building, sure, talk away.

Then I started feeling all sorts of sorry for myself. I mean I've really got no one here. I'm friendly with the people on our street. The one lady pretty much serves as a taxi for her many children, the other is also busy unpacking her home, and the other is a Ph.D. who I believe does WOH, at least part time. In addition, the other new neighbor is originally from a foreign country, so I really have to pay attention to understand some of what she's saying; that's not a bad thing, but sometimes I just don't want to think. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss working and having more adult interaction.

I decided that I'd work on getting all my store returns ready, and when B arrived home from school, I'd take her and the other two out to the mall to do returns and eat. B was to bring home her first report card that day, so I was going to take them all out to celebrate the occasion at the Rain Forest Cafe and since I'm not too sure where my cell phone is, I was just going to leave DH out of the plans. Alas, the plan was foiled when the school called and said report cards weren't coming home Friday.

So B came home and she asked if her friend Clay could play at our house. I said only if his mom says it's OK. He was going to his aunt's house later that day, but he could play for about an hour. So the kids raced ahead of me and the full double stroller. They had a great time playing -- first they jumped on B's bed. Not a real good idea, considering it is higher than standard beds, and the ceiling fan and light fixture are over the foot of her bed, and Clay has a trampoline, so he can jump HIGH. Then we pulled out B's brand new dance mat and Clay started "dancing" on it. It was much more like he was trying to break dance, complete with attempted handstands...right next to the second story railing! ACK! B tried the dance mat and declared it "Boring!" which drives me completely batty; anything she doesn't like is "boring."

DH called me to see if we needed anything at the sports store; I gave him some one syllable answers, complained about my loneliness, and he solved the problem for me: get friendly with the ladies on the block. DUH!! Thanks for the hint!! Later the kids went outside to play where they met up with the two boys who live next door and on the corner. So we had six kids on our driveway, some playing basketball (after DH hung the net on our hoop), some playing with any of the other three outdoor balls we had just reinflated to proper PSI, some driving S's new motorized Jeep (yeah, thanks MIL!!), and some riding the other ride on toys. It was madness. Meanwhile for part of this DH was talking to the man next door, and then their middle DD, who plays basketball. Aside from the kids trying to run each other over in the jeep, it wasn't too bad. However, I now know for certain that I am not the type to run a day care. I took a census and found that we were missing a kid -- one of mine. The middle one to be exact. As I was holding A at this point, I handed him off to DH and started searching the gated backyard and then the house trying to find her. Finally she answered my calls inside the house; she was upstairs playing and didn't immediately answer me.

Clay's mom arrived and she, her sister, DH and I spoke for a few minutes. They'll be moving to a new house in our community and Clay will finish the school year with B, but will be in a new school come September. Oh well...just when I thought I was making a friend. Did I mention Clay's little sister is only a few months younger than S? Now here's the real momentous event of the day -- I have Clay's mom my phone number. Neither of us are listed in the school's directory, and I wanted her to have our number for future playdates.

Once they left I told DH that I was going to pass out from hunger. Clay's mom had suggested a local Mexican restaurant with good margaritas and a play area. After another whinefest from B about having Clay sleepover, I lost it. I said something snotty to her, and DH said that "you get what you give." I'd lost all my patience, I needed a drink or twenty, I needed a break and I needed a cry. Thus I retreated to my bathroom and proceeded to cry, wail and sob my heart out. Considering I wasn't yet in full breakdown, DH still probably has no idea how hard I cried in there. Once I got it all out of my system, we packed up the kids and went to dinner. We were seated immediately, and just about as we sat down, someone took our drink orders. Once I had time to read the menu and discovered that happy hour was ending in about 10 minutes, I ordered a second frozen margarita. My dinner was good, the kids were behaved and, best of all, I was buzzed. I had been thinking all damn day about when I could have a drink, and believe me, those margaritas were FANTASTIC!! LOL! Yes, I passed out, in bed, before 10pm.

I thought parenthood was going to be fun. I did not anticipate the sometimes near incessant whining and complaining and mountain from molehill making...