Just Another Day

Take a seat everyone-here is another picture of the Rosenfeldt house on a typical evening...

I think I will start with the scene before everyone came home from school.  Noah had just woken up, I was finishing some online work and it was quite peaceful.

Then...

They came home.

As my carpool friend drove away, waving and saying, "Good luck!" I could tell that I was going to be in for it.  Abby and Caleb were in their typical end of the day moods, in which they decide to fight about everything.  Apparently, all of the good behavior that their teachers rave about has to burst at some point and so it does-at home.

After hearing Abby whine to Caleb about how he was in her way while she was trying to do cartwheels for the hundreth time, I finally said, "Abby-he knows he is getting to you.  Ignore him and he will find something else to do!"

She chose to ignore me instead.

While I prepared dinner, here is what I heard from the living room...

"Caleb-stop getting in my way!"
"Hee hee hee."
"Caleb-STOP IT!"
"Hee hee hee."
"Come on Caleb, get out of my way!"
"Hee hee hee."

I have to admit, at this point, I was laughing to myself, too.  I would gladly have gone in to break it up if she had just at least tried to listen to my advice.  Sorry, girlie, you thought you knew better.

As Noah stood near me in the kitchen, pointing at them and saying, "Uh oh," I listened as I heard the arguing get louder.  Eventually there were some fist poundings, but considering Caleb was still "hee hee heeing" through his beating, I figured they were fine.

I know-call me mom of the year.

As the screams grew louder, I finally gave in and went to break it up.  They were both in trouble, both separated and both left to pout on their own couches while I went back to making dinner.

You know, the dinner that I was preparing for my precious children.

When I had left the kitchen to break up the fight of my children, I had just taken a pot of boiling chicken off the stove and after emptying the chicken, I had left the dry pot on a cool burner.  When I went back to cooking, I needed to take dinner out of the oven and moved the pot to its former burner, which I figured was cool enough by then.

I served dinner to the kids, went to make my plate and noticed that the light was still lit on the stove, meaning that the burner was on.  In the chaos of my children, I had forgotten to turn off the burner and the completely empty pot was smoking.

Whoops.

At this point, all of my burners were in use or had just been used so I grabbed a pot holder, set it on the counter and placed the pot on it.

Not the smartest decision I have ever made in my life.

As I attempted to sit down for dinner, Caleb said, "Mom, that pan is still on fire."
I looked over and smoke was rising from under it.  As I picked it up, the potholder stuck to it and was completely black. 

The scene was complete with the most horrible smell I have ever smelled in my life.

No, it was not Noah's diaper.  It was the smell of the potholder burning on the pot.

Not exactly the best made potholder.

Finally got that all cleaned up and opened up every window around me (remembering, as I opened it, that there was still a rip in the screen of the kitchen window-please, come on in bugs), still attempted to sit down to eat my by then cold dinner and Caleb started asking for seconds.

After he received The Look from me and wised up, I ate a few bites, cleaned up Noah, got Abby motivated to get dressed for soocer and started cleaning up the kitchen.  Caleb, my beloved slowpoke when it comes to meals, was still eating and suddenly I heard, "Uh mom-it was an accident."

While part of me longed to jump out of the torn window, the part of me living in reality turned around and saw that his entire drink had spilled.  All over the table, the chair, the floor and into the slit of the table that holds the center extension part.

I kind of wanted to cry at this point.  I really wanted to yell.  But, those blasted windows were open and my neighbors all live inches away so I chose to quietly yell through gritted teeth.  For the first time in his life, Caleb noticed the mood of the room and left it.

As I grabbed towels and started to clean up the drink, I looked at Caleb and he was sitting on the couch, watching television.  In my anger, I said, "Caleb, stop watching tv!"  I looked over a second later and he was still sitting there, with his hands over his eyes.

I guess that was all he could do.  His mom was yelling at him to stay out of the kitchen and yelling at him to not watch what was going on in the next room.

Finally made it through his meal, rushed around to get Abby ready for soccer and my precious daughter, who is ALWAYS ready and listening comes downstairs without her socks, without her brush and without her rubber band.

Seriously, Abby?  You chose this night to walk around in la la land?

I took her next door to our neighbor who was awesome and offered to take her to practice and we were talking about how both of our girls have Wednesday night games this week.  I mentioned how the 5:30 game is really hard to get to, especially for people who work.  Abby chimed in and said, "Yeah, it's a good thing that you don't work, Mom."

Uh, what?

My neighbor heard her words and very quickly said, "Yeah, your mom takes care of you and your brothers and that's work."

Abby said, "Yeah, you know what I mean.  Like a real job that you go to and work at."

I reminded myself that she is seven years old, went inside and went back to my cooking.  Oh yes, more cooking to go.  My loving husband was hoping to have pepperoni puffs and buffalo chicken dip with chips for his Monday night football watching event.

I recently just started getting the smell of the burnt pan out of the house, thanks to open windows, lysol and a candle.  As I was sitting here typing this, I looked over at the buffalo chicken dip that I had pulled out of the oven and noticed that it was still bubbling.  I found that odd, since it should have been cooling.  Upon inspection, I realized that I had left a burner on and promptly placed the cooling dish on that burner.

I wish I was kidding.

Thankfully, I think I saved the requested meal.  Nick just gave me a look of, "What the heck are you doing?" and I almost decked him.  He, like Caleb, took the hint and went into the living room.

As I look back on my day of laundry, cooking, carpooling, errands, online work for Thirty-One and Mary Kay, changing diapers, planning stuff for American Heritage Girls, changing sheets, cleaning...I guess it is a good thing that I do not have a real job.