Sink, Swim or Worse?

This past weekend, Nona and Grampy- my parents- came for a visit.  It was a good time of year to have them, because I don't think they've ever spent Halloween with us.  Even though they are not here for trick or treat today, they were able to be around for the girls school parties, costume parades, and harvest festival.  They were also here when the girls carved their pumpkins.  Truthfully, they were here for all the fun parts.  Tonight is going to be a blur of walking around getting candy, trying to keep the girls from eating ALL of the candy and then fighting them to go to bed because they are so hyped up on all that candy.  So much fun, Halloween! Hmm, now that I think about it, perhaps their plan was to be gone for that part all along.  Anyway, Saturday night before the pumpkins were carved, my first grade teacher mom decided to do a little science with the girls.


She took one of our pumpkins and had the girls guess the weight of it, which they were all way off on.  I'm pretty sure there is no way to buy a 35 pound pumpkin from the grocery store for $5, no matter how good my Ralph's Club discount is.  After they all made a guess, my mom weighed the pumpkin on our scale and then weighed each of the girls.  I think this made the idea of weight a bit clearer.  The next thing they did was play "sink or float".  It is just as it sounds.  She filled the sink with water and then went around the kitchen finding items to throw in the water.  The girls had to guess if each item would sink or float and see who was right.  Eventually, they worked their way up to the pumpkin.  It's a great experiment to do with kids over three.  


The girls loved it and would probably still be throwing things in the water, if my mom didn't pull the plug on the sink.  They especially loved guessing what each thing would do.  Sonya started finding things of her own to put in the water and came over with a crayon.  My mom held it up and asked each of them, 


"Sink or float?"


"Float," answered Sonya.


"Fwaot," said Georgia.


My mom turned to Lana with the crayon in her hand.  Lana looked at it, thought for a minute and said,


"Drown."


Huh.  That was a little morbid.  I didn't even know she knew the word drown or what it meant.  Perhaps it's all those Halloween specials she's been watching this time of year.  Although, I don't remember anyone drowning in, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."


Lucky for the crayon, we saved it before it met it's demise.

The Aluminum Anniversary

A couple weeks ago I told you all about my ten year anniversary.  I mentioned how much I love my husband and how great he is.  He proved it further with his gifts to me for our anniversary.  Usually we don't exchange gifts, but since this was our tenth, we decided to make an exception.  Okay, fine.  I decided we should get each other gifts.  I mean it's been ten years!  Anyway, I didn't really care what he got or how much he spent, I just wanted a little something to commemorate the occasion.  Most guys would have just gotten some flowers or a random piece of jewelry, which would have been fine.  However, when Andy puts  thought behind a gift, he becomes the most romantic, sweetest, fantastic guy.  Here is what I got: 

Now most of you are looking at this and thinking- "Ummmm, looks like random jewelry to me."   But it isn't at all.  In fact, the necklace made me cry.  Here is what you are looking at.  

First of all, both pieces are made from aluminum since the tenth is the aluminum anniversary.  Who even knew there WAS such a thing as aluminum jewelry?  The earrings are purple, with gold in them.  They represent the place where Andy and I met, college.  The colors of our school were purple and gold. Those he gave to me on our anniversary.  The necklace came last week. When it arrived I called Andy to let him know and he explained it to me.   If you look at the necklace you will see dates stamped on each of the rectangles.  Those are the girls birthdays. The little round balls represent Andy and I.  They are peas in a pod.  That is where I started to cry.  Then he told me the reason they are blue and not green, like peas are supposed to be, is because my eyes are blue and he thought the blue would be better on me.  AWWWWW!! I know right!  He really CAN be so thoughtful and romantic.  I love both of my gifts.  I wish I could have been as thoughtful, but he really did need/want his new sunglasses.   

Now if only he could be romantic in a picking up his dirty clothes off the floor and putting his dirty dishes in the sink kind of way.  I guess for now though, he gets a free pass.

When Tooth Fairies Forget

Sooo, I suck. Why you ask?  Because I forgot to play tooth fairy last night.  NOT good.


I think this is the fourth tooth Sonya's lost so far.  It has been a little wiggly for a few weeks now.  Then the other day she wiggled it to the point of extremely loose.  She asked me to see if it would come out on Wednesday, but it didn't seem quite ready yet.  Then last night after dinner, she asked again for me to try and pull it out.  It took a little more pulling than I like, but she was desperate to have that tooth out and it was ready enough.  The "magic tissue" did the trick and it popped out in my hand. She ran around the house just as excited as if it was the first one she had lost.  She showed her sisters and we called Andy at work.  Then she wrote her note to the tooth fairy, as she does every time, placed her tooth in the little tooth bear she has and placed it on her nightstand.  I also got to hear about how her friend Tyler, who is in her class at school, lost his tooth yesterday, and how cool was it she lost HERS the same day!  How cool indeed.  Little did I know that Tyler's lost tooth would help provide my alibi the next morning.  She went to bed happy and exited.


I'm not sure why I completely forgot about the tooth, I just did.  Maybe because the novelty of her losing a tooth has worn off.  Who knows?  I wasn't even drinking wine last night!  I swear!  Andy came home a bit late, so missed bedtime which made it so he didn't remember the tooth any more than I did.  I even checked on her before I went to bed last night, but for whatever reason, my eyes never looked to the nightstand where the tooth and note sat waiting.


This morning I woke up a bit later than usual.  Most of the time I try to get up by 6:15 so I can work out. All this week I haven't gone to bed until late and then woken up early.  That is why when my alarm went off at 6am and I realized I  hit the wall.  I couldn't do it.  My body wouldn't get out of bed, no matter how much my mind try to coax it, so I gave up and went back to sleep for another hour.  Then around 7:15 I heard in my sleepy state Sonya calling for me.


"What is it?" I called from my bed, still not ready to get out of it yet.


"Can you come here please?" She asked, sounding kind of sad.

"In a minute, girlie," I told her, trying to wake up.  Then out of nowhere it hit me.  SHIT!  I FORGOT ABOUT HER TOOTH!!!  I was awake.

Quickly, I formed a plan in my head.  My first thought was to tell her the tooth fairy must have been so busy she didn't have a chance to get to her.  No, that was no good. She would be upset, and I didn't want to deal with that.  Too much guilt.   Then I had it!  I found a piece of paper and a random crayon on top of my nightstand.  I scribbled a quick little note.  Then I went to our change container in the closet, where I had a one dollar bill and a couple quarters.  I wrapped them inside the note and headed to her room.

"What's up Sonya?" She had her back to me, so I quickly placed the note and money next to the nightstand.  

She was already crying.  Shit, shit, shit! 

"Tooth Fairy didn't come last night!" She said through her tears.

"Really?" I said feigning surprise, "that's so weird.  Are you sure?  Let's look around."

Then I bent down next to her nightstand and picked up the folded note and money. 

"Wait, what's this?" I said.

"What?" She asked, looking over the bed to me on the floor.  I opened up the note and place it with the money on the bed next to her.  She read the note, and immediately broke out into a smile.  

"Well, that's strange," I told Sonya.  "She left you money and a little note but forgot to take your tooth."

"Yeah, that is weird," she agreed.


"You know what?" I told her, spinning my story.  "She was probably so busy last night, she just completely forgot it on her way out.  I mean your friend Tyler lost his tooth too, and I'm sure there were other kids she had to go to last night.  It was probably a crazy night for her.  You know how that happens sometimes to mommy and she forgets things."  

Luckily, she bought it.  "Yeah.  Like when you go to the grocery store and are in a rush and then we get to the car and you say 'crap, I forgot something'."

"Yeah, just like that," I said.  "But let's not say crap."


Then I said to her,  "I think we should leave your tooth here.  She probably realizes she forgot it and will most likely come back to get it tonight, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah," she agreed.  "Then she can answer the questions I asked her on my note too."

"Yeah I'm sure she'll have more time for that tonight, but at least she left you something last night," I said.

"It's a good thing too," she started to tell me. "Because  everyone at school knew my tooth was loose and if they saw I lost it they would have asked me what I got from the tooth fairy.  I was afraid I was going have to tell them nothing."

Hold on a second while I pick my heart up off the floor.

"Plus!" She said.  "Usually I only get a dollar and this time she gave me a dollar fifty!"

Oops.  I had forgotten how much we give her.  I think the extra 50 cents was for my guilty conscience.  

"Well, maybe she left you a bit more this time, since she was in such a rush and couldn't answer your note last night," I offered.

"Yeah that's probably it," she agreed.

Great!  I almost created the most dramatic thing to happen to my daughter to date.  Going to school and telling her friends the tooth fairy didn't come.  What kind of mother am I?  I know there has to be others of you out there who have done this a time or two.  In fact, I'm almost positive it happened to my sister Beth, so perhaps it's genetic and I just got it from my mom.  If I remember correctly though, she covered much like I did.  

Sooo...yeah...I suck.  BUT at least I made up for it and suck a little less now.  

Like Father, Like Daughter

I've recently come to the realization, that little Georgia is becoming the jokester in the family.   She is the one who is not afraid to make a fool of herself to get a laugh.  For a few months now, she will use different voices to make fun or her sisters, or even Andy and I.  Most of the time it's her repeating what we say in a goofy voice, but I have no idea where she even got the idea to start doing this.  Then again, I have to remember who I'm married to.

Andy has always been funny.  It's definitely one of the reasons I married him to begin with.  Wittiness comes to him very naturally and anyone who knows him, knows how much he jokes around.  Pretty much 24/7.  It's hard to get him to be serious.  Usually the only time he's serious is when he's mad, we're in a fight or he's sleeping.  Actually, even during sleep he's laughing.  Like last week when I woke up from a nightmare yelling "NOOO!"  I think he laid in bed and giggled at me for five minutes before going back to sleep.  Don't bother seeing if I need comforting from my nightmare!! No no, just laugh at me yelling in my sleep.  Well, in his defense it was pretty funny.   He will be more serious when he's around people he doesn't know that well.  He has to feel out his audience before deciding what kind of jokes he can make.  When we had kids I always hoped that they would take after him in this way. They all seem to have a good sense of humor.  Each one of them can be goofy in her own way at different times, but Sonya will become too self conscience and Lana is too moody.   But Georgia...she is the one that will do anything to get a laugh.  Sometimes it's making silly faces, sometimes it's the mocking voices, then other times it's her attempt at trying to dance in tap class.

I take Georgia and Lana to dance class every Tuesday right now.  It's through the Parks and Rec here in Burbank, so it was fairly cheap.  One week they do ballet and the next week it's tap.  The girls like going, and I can't even begin to tell how how incredibly adorable and funny they are.  I wish I had videos or a picture even, but alas their teacher doesn't allow it.  She doesn't allow much, let me tell you.  She is very serious about dancing with them and even I'm scared of doing something wrong when I'm there.  

Yesterday, she was teaching the girls "shuffle, hop, step", which is the only step I remember from my own very brief tap days some 100 years ago.  She showed the girls how to do it and then she went down the line to have each of them do it so she could help them with it.  The girls in this class are between 3-5 years old, so they are all cute to watch and have a hard time performing any step. They also have difficulty keeping focused for the 25 minutes they are in there. All of us moms are entertained by our kids each week, and how funny they are when they try to dance.  This week though, Lana nailed it.  She did a great job with the move and the teacher even commended her.  I was so proud.  The instructor continued to have each girl show her the move individually until she got to Georgia.  Oh Georgia.  I don't really even know how to describe what she did in words.  If you were a Seinfeld fan, think something along the lines of the Elaine dance.  If you weren't you can check it out here.  Yeah, it was sorta like that.

Georgia did the shuffle, but kicked her leg way out in front of her.  Then she jumped high in the air and landed hard for her step.  Except when she jumped, she did this thing with her arms punching them in the air.  Her teacher made her do it a few times on each foot and every time she did the weird jump arm thing.  At the start of her turn I was giggling, but by the end, I was in full church laughing mode.  You know the one. It happens when you find something funny in church and you can't laugh out loud, so you start to laugh inward and it makes your whole body shake which only  makes you laugh harder.  Then your mom snaps her fingers and gives you her mad look because you are laughing in church, even if it isn't out loud.  That was me at dance class yesterday.  Only when I turned to look at the other moms, they weren't snapping their fingers with mad faces at me, but doing their own church laugh.  I was laughing so badly that I started tearing up at one point.  I didn't want to laugh out loud, because I didn't want Georgia to feel self conscience.  However, it appeared she did notice we were all in silent fits of giggles, and this only fueled her to be more silly.  Even her strict instructor was smiling and appeared to be holding back some of her own chuckles.  Then the mom sitting next to me, leaned over and said,

"She is super cute!"

Yes, yes she is. While she may not be the best dancer or any kind of dancer,  she appears to be the class clown of the dancing class, and loves every minute of it. 

 I always knew that when I got surprisingly pregnant with her, there was a reason for her to be in our lives.  I'm almost certain now it is for her to make us laugh, and lighten our lives.  For all the drama the older two can cause us, she is the comedy to play off of them.  I think she is going to have us, and others around her laughing out loud or church style, for many years to come.  

Vampire Teacher

After picking Lana up from preschool on Friday afternoon:


Me- "How was school Lana?"


Lana- "Good!  I yike my teacher. Teacher Suzanne."


Me- "Yeah?  She's a good teacher, huh?"


Lana- "Yeah, she's fun.  Mommy?"


Me- "Yes, Lana?"


Lana- "Does Teacher Suzanne go to sweep at night or is she awake and teaches all night?"


Me- Stifling my giggles, "I'm pretty sure she sleeps at night like we do."


Lana- "Oh. Okay!"


What would possibly make her think that someone stays up all night and teaches?  Perhaps I shouldn't let them watch the Twilight movies anymore.

Ten

Yesterday was an very important day in our family.  It was important because it was the anniversary of the beginning of this family.  Ten years ago yesterday in a church in Rhode Island, Andy and I vowed to stay together for the rest of our lives, in front of all of our family and friends.  So much has happened in that ten years.  Namely the three little beings who have turned our lives into something completely different from where we were back then.  The funny thing is, we weren't supposed to have October 12 as our anniversary date.  We were supposed to be married on September 15th of that year.  If you're following, you will see that was also the same year as the September 11th attacks.

Since I told you all the story of how we met, I thought it appropriate to tell you the story about our wedding.  Everyone has something that goes wrong at their wedding.  Usually, it's something that is easily fixed.  For us it was a little more involved of a fix.  

Any one out there who has planned a wedding, knows how much work and preparation goes into it.  How you get more excited as the day gets closer.  It was no different for me.  We were living in Los Angeles then, as we do now, but were planning on getting married in Rhode Island.  Andy grew up there  and since I had moved so much when I was younger, it made more sense to get married where one of us had strong ties.  On Tuesday, September 11, 2001 we were supposed to be taking a red-eye flight to RI, where we would get married that Saturday.  

I remember that morning as clear as everyone else in this country does.  Andy and I lived in an apartment in Burbank that had a running track behind it.  I would get up early most mornings and go for a run, before getting ready for work.  I headed out that morning with my cassette walk-man (I guess iPods weren't quite there yet) and turned on KROQ.  I listed to the Kevin and Bean show every morning.  I knew that they were on vacation and would most likely be playing old shows, but when I heard the voice of Ralph, who does entertainment and the news guy Doc I got confused.  They were not on vacation with the others and what were they doing live?  Weird.  I continued to run and as I ran, their words starting sinking in.  

Plane hit the tower.

Another plane hits the second tower.

The first tower falls.

I just continued to run, hoping that this was all a mistake.  Thinking they would come on and claim it as some War of the Worlds type thing, but no, they seemed pretty somber and extremely serious.  I finally decided to end my run and went up to the apartment where I found Andy wide awake sitting on couch watching the whole thing on TV.

"Where were you?!" He demanded.

"Where I go every morning, to run," I said more calmly than I felt.

He had been worried when he received a phone call about what was going on and I wasn't there.  We sat on the couch for a while watching the second tower fall and trying not to panic.  The talk started about this being a terrorist attack.  Then came word of other planes being hijacked and immediately and all the planes were grounded.  Then as the horror of the attacks continued, I started to have thoughts in the back of my head that were completely selfish, but I couldn't ignore.  What about my wedding?  

Now let me just say right here how tragic what happened was.  I have so much sympathy for everyone who lost their loved ones that day.  I couldn't even begin to imagine.  That is what made it worse for me.  I was lucky to still have everyone I loved safe and sound, but there was this huge thing that was supposed to be happening in mine and Andy's life that was what?  Not going to happen?  Going to happen later?  Be moved to a different location?  I had no idea.  I felt bad for even trying to think about it, but we had to.  

All the planes were grounded.  The times for them to be back in the air kept getting pushed back, and back, and back.  The earliest they could get us into RI was the day of our wedding by 10am.  The wedding was at 2pm.  And that was just us.  We had no idea what all my friends and family were going to do.  Luckily, my parents were already in RI with my soon to be in-laws.  They had driven there the day before to help tie up loose ends.  Now we had to tie the biggest loose end of all.  Moving the ENTIRE wedding to another date.  

I am so thankful to the four of them for all they did those couple days.  I was in no frame of mind to make those calls myself.  Again, I can't tell you how guilty I felt at that time for feeling upset about the loss of my wedding, especially when so many people lost so much more.  But I couldn't help it.  It was something I had planned for, well my entire life really.  

Fortunately, it was fixable.  The place we were having our reception had two dates available, one in November and October 12th.  I chose October, for fear of snow in November.  You never know in New England.  All of our vendors we were using from DJ to photographer, were understanding and available that day.  The good thing was that it was a Friday and not many people choose a Friday to get married.  This helped us out.  Most of our family and friends were able to change plane tickets and make the switch.  There were a few people we lost, but a couple that we gained with the new date as well.  The day itself ended up being beautiful.  The weather was awesome and we had a fantastic time.  We went through a bit of stress, but it all worked out in the end.  That is more than I can say for so many people's lives that day.  I am grateful that was the worst problem I had to deal with. 

Now, ten years later, it has become just an interesting little fact in our lives.  All of our engravings and wedding invitations say September 15th, 2001, yet our actual wedding date is October 12th.  Every September 15, Andy and I wish each other a Happy Fake Anniversary.  That week is such a blur in my mind, but Andy remained calm and helpful through it all.  He was a rock.  Well, after the initial shock anyway.   I am thankful for him every day, because besides being a great husband, he is the best father I could have asked for my girls.  He has continued to be my support and my rock through so many points in this past ten years.  When they told me I needed to have a C-section with Sonya and I burst into tears, when I became surprisingly pregnant for the third time with Georgia, and when Lana had a number of problems as a baby.  He has been helpful through all of it.  Sure we've had a few bumps in the road, but this is something I have learned about marriage in the past ten years.  It's not about flowers and chocolates.  Don't expect midnight trips to Paris on a private jet for your birthday.  Life is not a soap opera.  (Which is too bad sometimes) It's about really being there in the good times AND the bad, the sickness and the health.  We've been there for each other.  It's not always easy, but it's always totally worth it.  For our girls and for each other.  So here's to my wonderful husband of ten years.  I can honestly say I love you more than the day we got married, and I hope to feel that way in another ten years, and another ten, and another.  Then we should be good.  Thirty years is long enough to be married, right? 

I love you Andy, Happy 10th Anniversary. Thanks for making all my family dreams come true.

Quick footnote-If I haven't said it before, I will say it now, thank you to all of you who switched your plans and lives around to be there with us on this day.  Besides having a great husband, I have amazing family and friends.  

Family Vacation

Hello and welcome back!  Well, to me anyway.  I have neglected my writing because of our whirlwind trip to Rhode Island for the past six days.  Can I really call a trip to RI whirlwind though?  I guess that should be saved for more exotic vacations to places like Paris or Italy, maybe even Hawaii.  However, since there's no chance in hell I will be visiting any of those places in my near future, I will consider this trip in the whirlwind category.  It kinda was.  We did so much in the four full days we were there.  Dinner's out, visits from family and friends, visit to friends, lots of good food and great wine- of course- all while staying with my brother-in-law and his family.

The great news is that the six hour plane ride across the country went extremely well.  The girls did fantastic the whole time and we didn't have any major problems.  It's so much easier traveling with them now that they can keep themselves entertained and aren't in diapers.  As I am writing this, we are on the plane back home.  It's hasn't been horrible, but Georgia is definitely more antsy this time.  About ten minutes ago I sent her to sit with Andy.  It was his turn.  

One of the main reasons we decided to take this trip was because we had not seen Andy's brother, David and his family in over two years.  They have a little girl, Brigid who is a few months older than Georgia, who we had met before. However over a year and a half go my sister-in-law gave birth to Moira, who we had never even seen in person.  Sometimes it really sucks living 3,000 miles across the country.  Even if the weather is nice most of the time.  

My girls had a great time meeting and playing with their cousins.  Brigid was especially fun, because she fits right in with my kids ages.  Although, I fear she may have picked up some bad habits from my girls.  Perhaps a bit of an attitude and a little more wildness.  Oops!  Sorry David and Brenda.  Brigid is usually a more quiet, easy going type of kid.  In fact Brenda described her as an 80 year old in a 3 year old body.  I think one of my favorite things she did this weekend was when she asked if she could play outside with my girls.

Sonya and Lana decided to go outside and play picnic, and hang out on the hammock.  I don't recall them asking me, more just saying they were going.  That was fine with me.  They were playing, having fun and staying outside to make noise.  That meant peace and quiet inside.  Works for me!  They coaxed Brigid into going out with them, but once outside she realized that SHE had not gotten permission.  I was on my way into the house and she said to me,

"Can I pway owside wit da gwils?"

"Sure, Brigid.  Go play," I told her.

"But, can you ask my mowm if I can pway owside?" She said to me.

"It's okay Brigid, I'll tell mommy you're out here," I promised her.

Then she looked at me and kinda put her finger up toward me and said,

"Yeah, but still, can you ask my mowm if is okay."

It was then I realized she wasn't about to take my word for it so I turned toward the upstairs where Brenda was changing Moira and said, 

"Brenda, Brigid wants to make sure it's okay with you if she's outside playing."

She of course okayed it and upon hearing this Brigid went to join her cousins to play outside.  But ONLY after it was positively okay by her mom.  I think my girls would be okay with the mailman telling them it was okay to do something.  

So while, it is sad that we don't live closer today for us all to get together more often, it's probably better for David and Brenda in the long run.  I have a feeling my girls would be a bad influence on Brigid's 80 year old soul.  

Thanks to David and Brenda for the hospitality!  We had a fabulous time!

Unwelcome Guests

Thursday evening, as I was getting dinner ready for the girls and I, Sonya mentioned that her head was itchy.  Uh-oh.  Then she informed me that the school nurse had been in their classroom that day to inspect the kids' heads for lice, but she didn't get inspected.  Double Uh-Oh.  The nurse had to leave right before she got to Sonya.  That might have been ironic.  Why?  Oh well, can't you guess by now?  Because as it turned out Sonya had LICE!


That's right I said LICE!  I feel the only way I can describe this whole situation is to capitalize that word with an exclamation point.  I mean really.  LICE!  Did I need to deal with this a week before we go on a trip back east?  No, no I did not.  Yet there it was.  After she told me about her itchy head, I inspected her.  The problem was, I didn't know what I was looking for, because we have never dealt with LICE! before.  So I called one of her friend's dad.  Her friend had a case of it about a month ago and her parents had been telling me what  a pain in the ass it is, not 2 weeks before.


He told me what to look for, but the problem is,  Sonya is blond.  The eggs are white.  This makes them very hard to find.  Plus I didn't exactly know what it was I was looking to see.  Then I saw one.  Not an egg.  Nope.  An actual live bug.  A LICE!


O...


M...


G!!!!


It crawled away quickly.  Quickly enough, that I decided to deny that I saw it for about 20 minutes.  I did NOT want to deal with this and all that came with it.  Because, oh is there A LOT that comes with it.


I decided to stop the search for the moment and we sat down to dinner.  Then I called Andy to give him the news, and he decided I was being dramatic.  Yes in fact I was being dramatic.  Why? Because she has LICE!  Which means the other two probably have it , and wow was MY head starting to feel itchy.  Then there was the cleaning that had to be done to make sure we got rid of it.  All the bedding had to be washed, and I mean ALL.  And not just washed, but washed on the highest heat possible.  On my washer that is a  two hour and twenty minute cycle.   Stuffed  animals had to be bagged up and stored in the garage for at least 2 weeks.  Stuffed animals, that even though they don't play with most of them, it's the end of the world when I had to put them away.  All the rugs had to be vacuumed or washed, the couch and the rocking chair had to be sprayed with a LICE! killing spray, and I had to treat all of us with some sort of LICE! killing product.  So was I being a bit dramatic? HELL YES I WAS!  Look at all the shit I had to do, on top of all the shit I have to do everyday already.  Oh and, AND!  Andy was leaving Friday night for a fun filled weekend in Vegas with his friends.  So while he was off gambling, drinking and eating great food, I would be cleaning, washing, and let's be honest, drinking myself.  There was no way I was getting through this weekend WITHOUT a glass of wine.  Or perhaps I'd bump it up a notch to vodka.  Either way, this was not my idea of a fun weekend.  When faced with these situations, I tend to get mad and dramatic before I get to my place of acceptance and just do it.  So, I just had to go through my phases.


It only took me a couple hours before I did get  there though.  Andy got home from work,  and I went to the store to arm myself with whatever products I needed to destroy this enemy, while itching my head the whole time.  I ended up getting a homeopathic LICE! killing product, that the dad of Sonya's friend had recommended.  The only problem with it was that you had to let it sit for four hours. So we couldn't start the treatment until the next morning.  Poor Sonya.  She didn't want to go to bed that night knowing there were bugs crawling around in her head.  I promised her we would take care of it first thing the next morning.  She was already upset, because she couldn't go to school the next day and worst of all to the birthday party for her best friend's sister.  They were all mad at me for that one but what could I do?  I wasn't about to bring them around other kids, until I knew for sure that those pests were gone.


I got up extra early on Friday to squeeze in a workout, before starting every one's treatment at 7AM.  The  good part for the girls is I allowed them to sit and watch TV for about three of those four hours.  There wasn't much else they could do.  We had to wear shower caps and I wanted to do anything that would make them forget they were wearing shower caps.  Georgia wasn't too keen on having that on her head, but when zoned in front of the TV she sorta forgot.  I stripped down the house and started the wash.  My poor machine has been on since 7AM Friday morning.  Our water bill is going to be a wee bit high for these days.  Stupid LICE!


When the four hours were up,  we showered out the product and washed our hair.  Then I had to go through every one's hair with a fine tooth comb, and nit pick.  And there are two phrases that I have always used in my life, that I finally realized where they come from.  Look at all I learned!  Anyway-that phase took a while, especially with Sonya's long hair.  Don't think the other two were any easier.  Their hair may be shorter, but working with curls is challenging.  I couldn't really go through my own hair though.  I used the comb a bit, but didn't find anything.  When I was done with the girls, we took a ride to Sonya's school to see the nurse and have her check us all out.  Sonya has to have less than five nits (or eggs) in order to return to school, but it was to late for her to return that day anyhow.  I just wanted to make sure I did what I was supposed to.  Plus I really wanted someone to check me.  I was positive I had a whole camp of them living on my scalp.


Thankfully, I was wrong.  The good news was she found none, on Georgia or myself.  Lana only had one and Sonya did still have five or six that she found. Nothing alive anymore though, so that was a plus.  She informed me that I still had to go through Sonya's hair for a few more days searching out nits.  Then in 7-10 days it is best to repeat the treatment, just to be sure anything that is thinking about coming to life, does not.  We will be in RI at that time, so I will get the 10 minute non homeopathic treatment to use then.  (Don't worry David and Brenda, I promise we won't leave you with LICE!  Hopefully.)


Now here I am on the other side of having a kid who had LICE!  I can answer any questions you might have on the subject now and yes it sucks more than I can tell you in words.  I have continued to check Sonya all weekend long, which sometimes she's okay with and sometimes she complains about.  Fortunately, I haven't found to many and I think they are mostly gone. I periodically checked the younger two as well, but found nothing and to be honest, didn't feel like dealing with Lana's whining about it every time.  So I left them alone after a while.   I'm counting on Sonya getting back into school tomorrow, where she will be wearing a braid from now on.  Otherwise, I'm giving her a "mom" cut.


Thankfully, since we were able to get rid of most of it and all the live ones, we were able to continue with our weekend plans.  We had a Girl Scout pancake breakfast yesterday morning and a birthday party afterward.  The only problem with doing those things, is that Sonya thought it would be a good idea to let everyone know,


"I had LICE! yesterday and had to stay home from school!!"


Thanks for sharing Sonya!  Well, I guess it's better than sharing the LICE! with one of the kids.  Although who knows if she didn't.  Sorry to anyone who's kid may have gotten it from her.  Enjoy washing the contents of your house!


Oh and by the way, I apologize for making all of you itchy while reading this.  It's just something that happens as soon as the word LICE! is brought up.