The dangers of parenting

I got my first BLACK EYE today while playing... wait for it ...peekaboo with Henry. The worst part is that no one got to see my face plant into the park tree. It would have been pretty hilarious to see me splat down.

And it's official. I am on a roll lately! I think we better avoid Patty Cake and Ring Around the Rosies for a while just in case I should break a bone or something.

To the rescue: Stacey and the Children's Museum

Something I love: OTHER people's dogs

You both love dogs but there is no way our household can handle one.

So thank you random people out there who train your dogs to be friendly to children. Really. Thank you.

Aack! Derailment at station # MOM

Well, it's true. I've got SHINGLES. What a riot.

Life has felt a little like a runaway train lately: Too much stress. Not enough sleep. Schedules rearranged for family trips and new nannies.

And the moment the doctor said SHINGLES, it felt like the crash I'd felt coming was finally here.

BAM! Brick wall. You have SHINGLES.

You were both crawling around on the exam room floor, laughing in between peekaboos and hugs - too busy playing to notice your mother teetering off the edge of the track.

Doctor: talk talk.

Me: nod nod.

Henry: pushing a cap lid up the wall making truck noises. Why do boys always do this?

Lucy: laying on her back, hair splayed, singing something to herself while moving purple beads through her fingers like a rosary. Have you ever seen a rosary?

Me: absolutely no idea what the doctor was telling me during all of this. Nod and take some papers. Back to his face. Holy crap - SHINGLES? OK. So now what?

Then, real life starts again. Pick up papers, wrestle toddlers, trucks, bags and who-knows-what-else down to the pharmacy to get whatever prescriptions I had just blanked out on the Dr. telling me about.

Into the car. Drive home. Dinner prep. Play time. Baths. Bedtime routine. Fever and rash. Wakeful night. Early morning.

And finally, finally a WHOLE DAY of rest.

Really?

I didn't know I could take a day to rest. Did you? I just laid there and let the nanny take you off to play. I didn't work. I didn't clean house. I didn't do anything. (Well, besides scratch and moan a lot.)

Wow! It was amazing. Thank you SHINGLES. You are crappy but you taught me a valuable lesson.

And low and behold, the train is back on the track. Starting up again toward the end of the day.

Choo choo. And we are off again? I guess so.

SHINGLES

Shingles is a painful rash caused by a reactivation of the same virus that causes chickenpox. More common after age 60, a well-defined risk factor is a compromised immune system. Like say - from not sleeping, and traveling with 2 toddlers, and getting allergies for the first time, and stressing about childcare, and still not sleeping.

The signs and symptoms of SHINGLES may include:

• Pain, burning, numbness or tingling Yee-ouch!
• A red rash that begins a few days after the pain Ugh!
• Fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over Gross!
• Itching Argh!
• Fever and chills Blech!
• General achiness Crap!
• Headache Yick!
• Fatigue More?! Who knew it was possible.

All in all - Really. Really. Crappy.

Good morning all you trucks and tractors

Through the wall, I can hear you talking to yourself about trucks and tractors when you first wake up in the morning. You seem to think about them all the time. Do you dream about them too?

Henry in one of his favorite truck shirts

Peekaboo all the way to Idaho

See photos of our Idaho trip here.