I'm on an Emotional Roller Coaster and Frosting isn't Helping

I can't lie. Yesterday was rough. My sister's kids are really missing their parents, so they are emotional and needy. Charlie is particularly confused- he's only two, so the concept of "Your folks are coming back in 3 days" is lost on him. He reacted in the way two year olds do: by hitting, biting, and throwing tantrums all day. I reacted in the way 34 year olds do: by stress eating buttercream frosting until I hated myself. Good for me. The only reprieve during the day was Kiki's check-up. Who knew that a trip to the doctor's office could feel like a respite? My mom took the other 3 while Kiki and I went to see Dr. G. The official verdict is that Maggie is STILL a giant. She is in the 99.96th percentile for height. Dr. G. also discovered that she has a mild ear infection, and he explained that she probably wasn't hearing normally. My first thought was, 'That's OK, I've been screaming a lot lately.'

We blew off some steam today at the Kangaroo Zoo. Jack came with me and the kids had a blast. Here's Charlie on the slide:

Kiki loved the slides, but was equally entranced with the drinking fountain and the air hand dryer in the bathroom. She would push the button for the air, then turn around and rub her head and neck as the warm air blew on it. She was so brave on the slides- she climbed up the giant one herself. I said, "Want me to slide down with you?" She replied, "Alone."

Elise

Kate

I have to tell about an incident that happened on Wednesday. I was at Walmart with Kate and Elise picking up some groceries. We were running late, and by the time I stepped into line it was the hour I had told Paige we would be back. Of course, the person in front of me was taking FOREVER to check out. I called Paige, saying something along the lines of, "I'll be home as soon as the jerk in front of me figures out how to do a hostile takeover at the point of sale." Fortunately for me, I then began to pay a little attention to what was unfolding in front of me. The guy was going on a trip (camping or something) so he was buying some essentials, but he was having trouble because he could only spend a certain amount because he wanted to make sure there was money left in the account for his wife while he was gone. He was taking items off, then adding them back on, trying to get as many things as possible without overspending. I overheard him saying that if he spent $25 then his wife would have no money, but if he spent $15 she could get through the weekend on the other $10. I thought about the last time I was down to my last ten dollars, and to be honest, it's been at least a decade. While I am certainly aware of and impacted by the recession, Bruce has kept his job and we are lucky that our day to day lives haven't changed much. Anyway, the man finally wrapped things up and I checked out. As I was finishing, he stepped back into line behind me, and as I loaded my cart I heard him say, "This made it into my bag but I didn't pay for it." I know if I had been in his shoes, it would have been so tempting to keep that item- after all, it couldn't have been more than $10 and he probably needed it for his trip. And I left thinking a couple of things- people in this world are basically decent, and I am SO lucky. I take a lot for granted, and I shouldn't.

Who knew that I could learn a life lesson at the Walmart?