like a gladiator...

you would never think that baby face above could do this, fight like a gladiator. i'm talking about getting in & out of her car seat. she's been doing this the entire summer... it involves a lot her going stiff as a board, then scruching up into a ball, then flailing her arms around, then grabbing hold of the car seat buckles with her toddler death grip, then kicking & hitting the person trying to buckle that damn car seat harness. & the whole time shrieking & screaming & swinging her head back & forth, banging it with all her might against the back of her car seat.


i hate hate hate car seats! & i also hate this medicine i'm taking (they are related, just wait)


when i've had a long day with 2 or 3 kids--even if it's a fairly easy going day--there is still the stress & non-stop action of dealing with 3 kids for an entire day. & seeing as my doc recommended i only exert myself enough to stretch twice a day for 5 minutes, i guess i've overexerting myself with the level of activity i have daily. after a long day of being mommy & nanny, last night was one of those nights when i migraine hits me like a semi, i'm nauseous, have vision distortion, any movement with my arms, neck, shoulders or jaw produce searing pain, etc. so i had to take the medication that helps with that stuff & these (mostly non daily) pills make me exhausted & very very grouchy for a day. think PMS x10 grouchy.


so that was last night, me with a migraine, then me waking up at 1:15 & not being able to fall back asleep for at least another 2 hours (with THREE varieties of sleeping pills in me, mind you), then waking up to the girls fighting with each other, wes still tired & barely eeking by with the morning as he's trying to let me sleep 15 minutes longer than usual. anyway, so then we need to get all the gerbick gals in the car to take addy to school.


& this is where addy learned to cuss, from these morning, i'm assuming. we give amelia a few minutes to attempt the buckles herself. surprisingly, sometimes she does get the pieces together. not this morning so we have this wonderful, physical dance between the two of us. grouchy, exhausted, pained mom vs. determined, scrappy, kick-you-in-the-nuts (if i had them, i know she would attempt it) toddler.


i won. but only after putting my elbow into her stomach so i could buckle the top then wes reaching across the car holding the bottom buckle while i--with my elbow still in her stomach with her still kicking & bucking around--finally got the two last clasps done. then i did a wonderful parenting move--grabbed her face & told her this behavior is unacceptable (i imagine i looked a wee bit like a devil), slammed the door & said over the car to wes: WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH HER?!


yep, this is how little kids learn how to cuss.


so apparently addy thought i was yelling at wes b/c when i got in the car she gave me a preschool sized lecture about "working together to get things done. you should not talk to daddy that way, it was not nice". maybe it's better that she thought i was yelling about wes than about her sister? i dunno, probably not good that i'm behaving that way in front of the girls...but what IS a parent to do with something like this? it's not like i can just let her roam around the car or leave her at home alone. or never take her anywhere again.


then there was the moment after pulling out of the driveway that i realized i'd left my coffee inside, so then quickly drove back into the driveway--but missed it & ran over the curb & into our tree lawn instead. just to get my coffee. of course, i totally didn't care.

but the coffee seems to be helping. although amelia has been in time out twice since we've returned. but no more face grabbing & devil-mommy.


please, please, PLEASE tell me that your kids do this to & that you've responded in the same nasty manner that i have. i can not be alone in this!