What am I doing wrong?!?

Yesterday was rough for me. Not the morning routine of craziness at our house. Not the having a friend come over and go through some little girl stuff and her bringing me little boy stuff. Not the running around trying to make sure the house was semi-picked up before she got here. 

It all started when I picked the kids up from school. I don’t dread picking the kids up part. It is the process at the school that stinks. The parking lot is of horrible design which makes picking up…not so easy. We all weave in and out of different rows and finally, a teacher walks by with a walkie talkie and says the kids names that are to be picked up. You keep pulling up until finally…you reach the end of the weaving and turning and scootching ever so slowly to your children. The doors are opened and you are hollering, “Hi guys!! Get in and buckle quickly please! There are cars behind us! Come on. Hurry up. Let’s move!” Sounds pleasant right? Yesterday was that exact same process only with a little twist…

Stormy’s teacher was outside and she asked if I had gotten her email. I hadn’t. I confessed that I had actually taken a nap after lunch because…I was exhausted from all the morning activities. Oh and you know…being 7 and a half months pregnant can make you the slightest bit tired from just rolling out of bed. Mrs. T tells me that Stormy ate her lunch as her morning snack so she was probably really hungry. She did give her another snack in the afternoon but she still might be hungry. I am so confused at this point. I only sent a morning snack with Stormy. I never pack lunches. For $1.70 per day for a healthy lunch with three choices…you really cannot beat that. I start quizzing Stormy on the way home. She apparently has been telling her teacher she has home lunch. Which means she hasn’t been eating. HOLY CRAP! No wonder why she has been starving when I pick her up at 3:25PM. No wonder why she eats and eats and eats upon home arrival. I am so upset with her. Why has she been lying to the teacher about this? Why hasn’t anyone noticed my teeny, tiny 6-year-old not eating lunch?!?!? To say I was frustrated is the understatement of the decade. Stormy’s penchant for “tricking” has caught up with her.

I email the teacher back and explain all of this to her. I get a response back. We are both going to work with Stormy on this “tricking” she does. I call it lying. I have explained to Stormy, I can’t tell you how many times, that it is great to use imagination. To create stories and have fun and all of that. BUT there is a time and place for that. When you are hurting someone else, yourself, breaking rules…etc…. “tricking” is NOT okay.

She nods her head after we have a talk about this again. I explain to her that she has to always pick one of the lunch options at school. I will pack lunches for her when there are field trips and it is mandatory. Okay.

We move on. I have to go to the mall to pick up some birthday presents. The 22nd was my sister-in-law’s bday and the 23rd, my nephews (as seen on my blog!) I want to get Jen some body wash and lotion. Bath and Body here I come, with all four of my kids. Only one in a stroller and the others running around like crazy people. Not being bad. Just wanting to smell everything within reach. That includes the little one in the stroller that is grabbing and trying to open everything and making the sniffing face at all of it. After much deliberation, I decide which scents to get. I head up to the counter all the while telling my kids that “yes. That smells wonderful. Now put it back so we can go to the birthday dinner.” I notice Stormy acting…sneaky. I lean down and feel her pocket. There is something in there that she is trying to hide. Yep. A small bottle of hand sanitizer. I take it out and put it back on the counter. Grab my bag of stuff. No wait. I better frisk my kid to make sure she isn’t shoplifting anything else.

PART II coming soon. Did Stormy have anything else in her pockets?