After-thoughts on Independence Day

Yesterday was hard. I woke up around 4:30 and had trouble getting back to sleep. I managed to do some cleaning in the garage, before most of the others were even awake. When Max finally woke up, he was very excited about the 4th of July party I had convinced him that we were having...just the 4 of us; Brooke, Lauren, he and I. We put the star shaped cookies in the home-made cookie jar that I had made from a craft suggestion in Family Fun Magazine. It was cute, a red, white and blue robot with a see through body area to view the cookies, which also needed to be decorated with theme in mind. We blew up the bounce house, put water in the water table and let everyone play outside, after being slathered in sunscreen.

The menu I had planned was barbecued chicken, corn on the cob, cole slaw and mashed potatoes. We also planned on making star shaped cupcakes with red and blue sprinkles on top. So far, the day might otherwise be an ideal one. The weather was hot and Scott would be home for the first half of the day. Nonetheless, I still had to do all the shopping, preparing, cooking, cleaning and parenting on my own.

The not so ideal parts of my day consisted of having to clean the wall, in our hallway, after Lauren smeared poop, from her diaper, all over. Yes, I know, clearly a sign of potty training readiness...sigh. Lauren also managed to stuff a small blob of blue playdo up her nose, which obviously bothered her a good deal. I tried to hold her down and fish it out with some blunt edge tweezers, but it was too far gone. I used the battery operated "snot sucker" on her too, but that just retrieved some of the blue snot. I hope it dissolved or went down the back of her throat. There appears to be no telltale sign of it today. Only time will tell, if she develops any kind of sinus infection from the foreign object.

Lauren (are you noticing the pattern here...the common denominator of the day?) also managed to shove her sister, while in the tub, and cause her to get a bloody lip. Worthy of mention, is that it was Brooke's second bath of the day, because she smeared cottage cheese into her hair at dinner time. Lauren has perfected the art of screaming her way through the "terrible twos." The sound of her voice is deep, gravelly and has an amazing projectile for a small child. I am sheepish to admit that I have even responded by holding my hand over her mouth, being ever so careful not to cover her nose, of course.

As I write this, I have a naked "clone warrior," an underwear clad "indian" and a diaper wearing "knight," all running around my house, engaged in battle. The dog is hiding. I wish I could say the same, having no idea what little disasters await the rest of my day.