Peaks and Valleys

It seems the past few days have had me on a roller coaster, the kind that rattles your teeth, throws you upside down and backward, gives you whiplash, and throws off your equilibrium even after the ride stops. I’m still trying to find my bearings.

The chaos (who am I kidding, it’s chaos all the time around these parts, but this was just extreme skater punk chaos) began Friday morning when Sammy woke up with a swollen, reddish eye that looked like he’s been in some kind of kindergarten fight club. I noticed it the day before, but I really thought a knockout doze of Zyrtec and a good night’s sleep would take care of things. After all, swollen eyes are nothing new for the boy, who seems to turn into the Elephant Man every spring upon setting foot outdoors. But there I still was. And suddenly a bone chilling idea popped into my head: what it this was pink eye? Nooooooo! This was the last day of school before the holiday break, the day he got to wear his pajamas to school, eat completely non-nutritional snacks, exchange gifts (that I spent an hour and a half picking out), and enjoy happiness and cheer, not to mention my last hours before having to manage 2 sugar-fueled children for 427 straight hours. I was at a total loss as to what to do, so I figured a better expert than I should make the call, and I took him to school. I marched him up to the teacher and explained that I was sure this ocular ugliness was the work of seasonal allergies, but if she didn’t feel comfortable, I’d take him home. She said she didn’t mind if he stayed, but thought the school nurse should take a look. The nurse deemed him OK to return to class, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Until 2 hours later, when she called to have him picked up.

We headed straight to the nearest clinic, where, despite being the first in line, we waited half an hour and watched our position get jumped because the receptionist went on break. But my irritation dissipated with the official diagnosis of No Pink Eye (which I already knew, because the Puffy Eye was already 10 times better than it had been in the morning). So, home we went.

Then I discovered that the storybook exchange yielded Sammy an activity kit that included stencils, a puzzle game with 50 tiny pieces, and a vial of glitter. There are some very mean parents out there.

Seeing as Sammy was legitimately feeling under the weather, of course he would be ornery and pick a fight, and of course I would be too exhausted not to play along, and we then engaged in some particularly lovely parent child arguing that resulted in Sammy giving ma a “sad note” because I’d made him angry. Add on top phone calls requiring me gathering a whole lot of legal and financial documentation needed before the end of the year, not to mention all the various Christmas duties yet to be undertaken, and an enormous pile of laundry, and I had a good, old-fashioned meltdown.

Thankfully, my mom talked me down and I got back on work detail as best I could.

Saturday was Christmas with the In-laws, a trip 90 minutes south to the middle of nowhere when a dozen and a half of The Hub’s family would convene for fun and festivity. I got up early and made all the final preparations, and we made it down there with minimal trouble. We didn’t even get lost. And my sister-in-law nicely offered me a glass of wine as I walked in the door. I got a few minutes sitting by the fire with a magazine (Merry Christmas to me!) before the rest of the family swooped in and the eating and unwrapping began. A few years ago, I suggested the adults have a Chinese Christmas sort of thing, where everyone brings a surprise gift, and each person can open one or steal one from another, and I’m so glad I did. It totally ups the fun factor after the kids have torn through all their gifts in 25 seconds, and cuts down on the number of gifts I have to but for folks I don’t really know all that well (yes, they’re family, but I don’t really know their taste in DVDs persay). And we made out this year, snagging the best of the booze offerings, and not the deep fryer.

All good things must come to an end, and that was abruptly clear when Sammy projectile vomited all over the car on the way home. Twice.

By Sunday, I was just spent, as I suspect we all were. We all snapped at each other for one thing or another, and I was just about ready to put each one of us in a time out. Thank goodness I was rescued by some awesome women. Perhaps you know them: Jennie, Natalie, Erica, Kristie, A’Dell, Valerie, and Jenny. Spending a little time with them Sunday evening made all the craziness fade away. Even if I don’t get a single Christmas present, meeting these phenomenal ladies and being able to call them friends has totally made my year.

Still, I’m ready for a nice, steady twirl around the carousel now.