Crazy, just plain Crazy!

Ahhhh Wednesdays! By now, you alllllllll know how much I adore, anticipate and savour Wednesdays!! Well today the fact that it was Wednesday may have very well saved a life! Last night we had yet another episode with Sweetie from midnight til about 1am or maybe it was 1am til 2am. That's what this is coming to, we can't keep track because it's getting so constant & frequent. We took her for her early potty break without incident. I was in bed when she started. I tried to ignore her but she was saying she needed to pee rather urgently & it didn't seem wise to take chances there! So we got to the bathroom & she did indeed have something to contribute. Everything seemed to be fine... until she got an itch. That was all it took to send us into the mad mad world of Sweetie's night rage. She was trying to scratch it and I tried to do it but she screamed some more, it was still bothering her, "TOO SCRATCHY! TOO SCRATCHY!! (by which she means "itchy"). Due to all the previous incidents and my lack of sleep, I'm immediately cranky and really want to wrap this up & go back to sleep. So I scratch some more & some more but no matter how I rubbed her back, nothing alleviated her discomfort and recognizing the futility of any efforts to soothe this savage beast, I gave up & put her back in her bed & crawled into mine. The screaming continued. I went back in to her room, opened her blind to let in a bit of the streetlight so it wouldn't be pitch dark in her room, closed her door, turned on the lullaby music CD in her sisters' room, closed their door, closed our own door, turned our fan on high & braced myself for the onslaught. Actually, it was well underway well before I got through very many of those steps. I tried to doze a bit while I waited her out but she was relentless in her fury. Eventually she figured out that she didn't have to stay in there & opened her door and came screaming out in to the hallway and stood there for quite awhile. Murray & I just stayed put, hoping she'd give up & realize we weren't getting sucked in this time. She continued to ramp it up for a little longer, then decided to try a little harder to get our attention and opened OUR door. Then she came & stood screaming inside our room. We continued to ignore her (verrrrrrrry hard to not react to this!) She kept it up and kept it up until she was just about out of steam and could only whimper. Then she changed tactics and claimed she wanted to go back to her bed & wanted someone to come with her. I was trying to hang tough but was worried Murray might be ready to surrender our position. I was sooooo proud of him when he sternly said "NO! Sweetie, we are SICK of this every night. Now GO BACK TO BED." Unfortunately it didn't work. She continued her now pathetic soft cries and sniffling & gasping to talk, (apparently an hour of raging takes a lot out of a 3½ year old) and claimed it was too dark & too scary in her bedroom and she needed someone to come with her. We refused & insisted we were sleeping in our own bed. Eventually we did cave a little & told her we weren't sleeping in her room but she could sleep with us. She refused this a few times and kept trying to insist on her room but gave up and flopped down & immediately fell asleep. Somehow, I don't feel like we won...

And to kickstart my day, I awoke to the melodious sounds of Lovey in a full throttle fit, a screaming, crying, down on the floor tantrum. Her problem? someone was flaying her? nope. She wanted her ponytail curled into a "drop" (their name for a ringlet). I got out of bed, not a shred of patience or understanding left in my body! I can't imagine how unpleasant the making of that drop was, the brush was not kind to her this morning but she never said boo. Luckily she'd just had a bath yesterday and she was just repeating the same hairstyle as the day before so it wasn't tangly.

After that breakfast went fairly smoothly but I was a little concerned about the weather. It was snowing again. Ice pellets again. School cancelled again. Oh dear God in Heaven, PLEASE let there be playgroup!!! And then He smiled upon me & said "Shazam! Playgroup is ON!" ;) or something like that. Anyway, I hauled butt to get our stuff together & get them dressed. It wasn't pretty & it wasn't pleasant. I distinctly remember someone saying "that wasn't very nice!" after being unceremoniously dumped out in to the hallway in midscream. But none of that matters! Once they were strapped into their carseats all was well with the world. They were quiet, they were content and we were on our way. Why the actual getting out the door process should be so arduous, I have no idea! They looooooooove to go places & always enjoy our outings! Again, it was really just Sweetie making things difficult. Once Lovey's hair issues were sorted out, she was fine & Honey couldnt' have been more accomodating. She even went & put her boots on all by herself, on the right feet at that, without even being told to get her stuff on. She was so proud that she'd done it "before ya even said to me!"

Because of all the messy snow, Murray had taken the car & had to come back to pick us up. I had Lovey & Honey out in the porch ready to go but Sweetie was having yet another issue with something (her pants were bothering her I think) so I walked out & left her in there while I got the others buckled in. Murray went in and put her under one arm & carried her to the car.

It was not a good night and the morning wasn't a great beginning. I was feeling the effects of all this late night rage dramas. It's exhausting, mentally, physically.. you name it! I was cranky & irritable and very much looking forward to a couple hours at playgroup. When Teena suggested going to McDonald's afterwards I was all for it. Anything that delayed me going home with them. I knew it wouldn't take much to push my buttons today and didn't think Murray would be too impressed to come home to find us down to twins! The kids had a great time & we all survived another dicey day. They played in the McD's playplace til after 4 & then it was time to get home & make supper! Cinderella looked after them til Murray got home and we will see what tomorrow brings.


(pictures are all from yesterday, no way was I attempting to suit them up in full snow gear today!)