Snow Day, Sick Day, Cleaning Day

Whew!  It's been a long day and somehow it was really productive and fun and a good balance of playing and accomplishing even though we made Jack's first trip to the doctor for illness and it was a snow day.

The day started with Jack's eyes being glued shut from some gunk and 3 inches of snow on the ground.  School was cancelled and I managed to get a doctor's appointment at 9:20.  We left the house before we usually even leave for school and it was all relatively easy to get the kids out of the house.

Jack actually likes to go to the doctor.  I guess he thinks it's a fun trip.  We've never really gone there because he was sick so he doesn't have any bad memories.  He also thinks doctors can fix anything.  He was such a little man today.  He didn't say a lot but he did everything they told him told him to.  He loved the blood pressure cuff...just sat there and giggled the whole time.  While he was sitting up on the table and waiting for the doctor, he said, "Remember when we pretended this was a garbage truck?  We're not going to do that this time because we're bigger now and we're just going to wait for the doctor."  For the record, I don't remember when they pretended it was a garbage truck, but it was probably a fun game.  We were in and out of the doctor's office with a diagnosis of conjuctivitis in both eyes and our prescription eye drops within 20 minutes.

At home, I started the de-germification.  I don't usually worry about germs too much.  I think the more we're exposed to the more we build up our immune systems and the less sick we actually are.  That being said, today I had to play some defense and start a counter attack on these bad-boy germs.  Every bit of linen has been washed, surfaces have been wiped, hands have been washed and washed and sanitized and washed.  Because THERE IS A BIRTHDAY PARTY IN 4 DAYS and I need the birthday girl to be healthy and not get what Jack has.  And I need the birthday girl's mama to be healthy too.  My strategy to keep Casey from touching Jack today was to tell her that she couldn't have her birthday party if she got sick.  It worked pretty well.

Along with the sanitizing, we made bread, we painted, we made another doll quilt (for Casey), we opened up some early Valentine's presents (thanks Grammie & Auntie), we played Star Wars Legos and discussed Star Wars A LOT.  When I walked around the house this afternoon, I had to laugh at the disaster it was and the things I found.  It was clean, but certainly not tidy.  Toys everywhere...

Legos scattered...

Casey was dressed like this.  (She got new underwear and tried them all on at some point in the afternoon.  I don't know why she's only wearing one sock.  And the t-shirt is actually her painting smock that she didn't take off after painting.  At one point she had a scarf wrapped all around her very elegantly.)

I found these two boxes in my closet...

My closet was the bedroom for the babies.  They were taking naps in there amongst the shoes.  You can even see that Jack's baby had his bedtime story nearby.  The shoebox to the left is not actually for my shoes but is a storage unit for Jack's baby's blanket when he is done with it.  Originally Jack said, "Mommy, next time Grampie is here I want him to build me a shelf so that I have somewhere to put baby's blanket."  Then he decided the shoebox was the perfect place for it.

There were are blocks all over my bedroom floor...

Lego houses dismantled on my windowsill...

Trains on my laundry baskets (at least the baskets weren't full of dirty clothes)...

Easels in the middle of my kitchen...

And a lot of junk on my kitchen table...

But you have to give Casey points for not listening going after what she wants...

I gave an empty tissue box to Jack (for a space station I think).  Casey wanted one too, so I told her she could have the next one, when all the tissues were gone.  Next thing I know, Jack is saying, "Yay, Casey you have one now too!" and she is holding up an empty box.  An empty box that used to be completely full, leaving the pile of tissues on a chair.

Despite the odds (sick kid, snow day, no naps) this day turned out pretty great.  Most of the toys are away, Lego land has been restored to order, Casey is fully clothed again, the babies are still napping peacefully, the tissues are so much easier to access, Jack's eyes are better, Casey's eyes are still good, the fourth load of laundry is drying, and there is dough just waiting to be baked for fresh bread tomorrow.  It's time for me to go enjoy my own clean sheets I think.