Survival - Day 3

Michaela: 1 accident
Maeve: 3 poops in her pannies
Alasdair: 1

I am convinced that children have some sort of internal alarm telling them when the worst possible time to crap in your pants is. I mean, really there is never a good time to crap your pants, but some times are definitely worse than others. Like when your mom is getting ready to herd you all out the door to swim class. Or when she's late picking your big sister up from school. Or she's going to miss her bus for work. Or right after she's given you a bath and hasn't had time to diaper you yet.

Today it was swim class. I was running a little late and herded the kids from the back yard into the house so I could get Maeve in her "jump-soup" (that's Maeve-ese for swimsuit) and head out to her lessons. But the minute I pick up Doodie i can smell him. So I wrestle him to the ground and pin him down so I can change the grossness and I asked Michaela to help get Maeve's jump-soup on her. As soon as Maeve's panties are down Michaela's all "Eeeew! She pooped!" Well, of course she did! We're late, she's not dressed and Doodie's got the shits from hell! Yay! Anyway, i cleaned her up and we ended up making it to swim class on time.

Then to end my marvelous day, the kids were playing in the back yard after dinner while I was trying to clean up the kitchen (which has a clogged drain and is FULL of gross standing water, ugh) when I hear something plastic on the slide outside. Now the kids decided that getting in our old cooler and shutting the lid is "fun". So they take turns getting in, the others shut the lid, then open it and you get out. Next kid goes. Rinse, repeat. Before you all call CPS on me, it's not a refrigerator type cooler, it's like an igloo cooler. And it's a cheap one at that. It doesn't fully close and it's not airtight, so it isn't a safety hazard. Except that when I'm hearing this plastic sound on the slide. My kids figured out how to turn it into one. My 7 year old crammed the 2 year old inside it and was dragging it UP the slide so she could let it go and watch it slide down. OMG. So I yelled at her and put her in a time out, which apparently was her most oppertune time to crap her pants.

I hope my husband isn't reading this from Springfield. He might not come home. :)

Survival - Day 2

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 poo in her pannies
Alasdair: 1

My day went something like this:

Get up
Get ready for school
Take M to school
Work
Lunch
Naps for kids
Work
Pick M up from school
Coach M on her "to do" lists while trying to
Work
Snack
Work
Ballet class (while keeping the two little ones entertained for 45 minutes in my car)
Work
Dinner
Dishes
Baths
Jammies
Doodie grabs a dirty plate and messes up the floor
Garbage to curb
Maeve Poops in her pannies
Laundry
Brush teeth
Read stories
Bed for the Girls
Get Doodie his "milk cocktail"
Book for Doodie
D to bed
Bake Brownies
Work
Blog
EAT BROWNIES.

Time for that last step now. I'm surviving w/o Mike here, but I could use a small break. Hum.

Survival - Day 1

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 pooh in her pannies
Alasdair: 2

So, the hubby is out of town on business (which doesn't happen very often so I'm very much not used to it) and honestly, this is probably one of the worst times ever for that to happen. I'm way too emotionally fragile with the kids right now and having to handle the three of them, plus work, plus swimming and ballet, plus the gym, well, let's just say we're walking a thin line of sanity.

BUT, I made it through day 1 with no major meltdowns, the kids got fed, bathed, homeworked, dishes are done, my chores are done (even the laundry!), the house is clean enough to not totally stress me out, and i just finished up my last bit of work for the day. I finally got a shower about a half hour ago and i'm ready to slip into my clean sheets!

I'd say other than Maeve's pooh incident, things went pretty well today. 4 more to go!

Blogging Standstill

Michaela: skid marks aplenty
Maeve: pees great in the potty and poops in her underwear
Alasdair: 2 good poohs

I think i'm losing my mind, seriously. I can't keep up with punishing my kids every 5 minutes, so I definitely haven't had time to blog. Things are pretty normal though. Michaela's totally ADD, which i'm slowly coming to terms with, and still crapping her pants constantly. Maeve is now a professional at going in the potty, as long as it's not solid. We haven't mastered that yet. And Doodie is pooping right along, no diaper rash and nothing too funky.

But my 7 year old, OMG. I'm ready to wring her neck. Here's her list of "issues" currently:

Can't follow directions
Doesn't pay attention in school
Doesn't finish her school work
Talks and interrupts
Can't remember to put anything away
Can't remember that my floor is not a trash can
Can't remember to do her homework
Can't remember to do chores
Poops her pants
Can't answer any question unless the answer is "i don't know"
Can't sit still to save her life
Can't stop screaming at her sister and brother
Has no volume control whatsoever
Can't get herself ready for school in the morning

there's more, but there's probably a character limit on blogspot. I'm so torn. I can't decide if she's just 7 and maybe immature or if she might need a trip to the doc and a diagnosis of ADD. It's not something I'm taking lightly, but i'm at my wits end with her. I don't know how to parent her successfully and it's not good for anyone in our house. I didn't just decide she's a pain in the @$$ and chalk it up to ADD, but every day I'm more and more convinced that her behavior isn't normal.

Anyway, I shouldn't be the only person in our house medicating themselves to stay sane, should I? Misery loves company!!

Worst Day EVAR

Michaela: no accidents, but some skid marky undies
Maeve: 1 pooh in the potty, 2 in her pannies
Alasdair: 3, and one was a DOOZIE

Let's begin with 1 poopy Doodie diaper and 2 pantie poops from Maeve.
Then there's the flat tire. I walked out to my car with the little ones to go to the gym and had to drive straight to Les Schwab. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
After I got that fixed we drove to the Y. There was no parking. Not one spot. Nada.
After 15 minutes I found a spot and got inside, but the Child Watch for Doodie was full. So I checked Maeve in and put D on the waiting list. For 45 minutes.
Finally I got in to the gym and slammed out my workout in 30 minutes, grabbed the kids and fled home.
Poop.
Lunch.
Nap.
Poop.
Work.
Collect M from school.
Work.
Poop explosion from Doodie.
Swim lessons for Maeve.
Work.
Oh, and in between all this was the incessant bickering, fighting, screaming, jumping, running, crying and downright unruly-ness from my kids.
I was at the end of my rope. Seriously, I'm at a loss. I'm not sure where I lost control of my kids, but it has happened and I don't know how to get it back. My 7 year old is literally out of control, and the 3 year old just copies everything she does. Then the 2 year old picks up on all the finer points from the bigger two. Between picking up all their messes and breaking up fights and trying to ignore the screaming I can't seem to hold on to my sanity these days.

I think it's time to chant my mantra for a few hours: This, too, shall pass.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

She won't even poop for ice cream

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 4 poops in her pants, 1 pee accident
Alasdair: 3 (4?)

I can't remember Doodie's total because my whole day is just a blur of poop. If it wasn't Doodie's diaper it was Maeve's underwear. My hands are raw from scrubbing with soap all day long. Gah. I mean, it actually inhibited my work today. I just couldn't get anything done!!

I tried to bribe Maeve with ice cream if she'd poop in the potty. I knew she'd have to go since she didn't go yesterday at all. She had a nugget in her pants first, so I told her she could have ice cream if she used the potty. So a few minutes later she said she needed to go, so she sat and a little while later she said she went! But I highly suspect she went in her panties and it just sort of hung on to her cheeks for dear life until she sat down, then dropped it's way to freedom. But she thought she went so I gave her some ice cream. ho hum. Maybe in another couple days when she's got to explode again we can find a new bribe.

Still no poops

Michaela: no accidents, but she's all backed up like a sewer line
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 2

Michaela's all constipated again. I can tell because she's going through underwear with serious skid marks like the world's going to end in three days, and she smells like a sewer. That's my tell-tale sign. So I'll try to clean her out this weekend I think, more milk of magnesia, and then cram some probiotics down her throat. We haven't been religious about taking them every day, but she gets them probably 3 - 4 times a week. Obviously that's not enough. And we've been kind of lax on the milk too. She's been having yogurt, cheese and regular milk more often than I'd like.

Maeve seems to only pooh once every other day or so. I think she's nervous about doing it in the potty. She didn't go today, so I'm going to watch her like crazy tomorrow and see if I can catch her in the act and get her on the potty before it's too late. Then I'll reward her with a huge bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles!!

Alasdair's just chugging along. Nothing really to report, so that's great on the HD front!