Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

My daughter needed a refill on her allergy meds (she's allergic to dogs, of all things) and of course we had to have a checkup to get them. One simply cannot call into the doctor and ask for a refill. She hadn't been seen since August, you know. And me in all my infinite wisdom scheduled her appointment for after school. Why miss school for something so silly as this? It isn't like she's sick or anything. Well live and learn, my friend. I was told that everyone and thier cousin wants after school appointments for this very reason and we'll wait forever. (We did.) The best time to come is an hour before school lets out when they're literally waiting for someone to get sick.

So here we are, with all 4 kids, at the doctor yesterday. We got right into the exam room and there we sat for nearly an hour. Micah had just been awakened from a nap and was not happy. Begin the screaming. Becky was whining quite loudly that it was taking forever and I had to remind her that the staff could hear her. And that patience was a virtue. Josh was quietly working on homework. Bless his heart. Micah toned down from screaming to kicking and fussing. Luke was supposed to be doing homework but I had to keep yelling to get his attention focused again, and to explain things over Micah's din. Micah was only happy laying on the floor, and although I'm not a germy kind of mom that is quite possibly even more disgusting than our pony paddock. Or the kennel before it's cleaned. I was not having any of that and it seriously hacked him off. He's now back to screaming.

This goes on for the better part of an hour, with the occasional matchbox car being slammed into the wall or a fight over who has what color car. Becky started asking about the time again and I reminded her that patience is not only a virtue, but a fruit of the Spirit. (I needed to remind myself of this, really.) And at this point Luke says "I think the doctor is waiting just outside the door and she's afraid to come in." I laughed. "I think you might be right!"

And looking back on yesterday, from start to finish, it's a wonder I had the energy or will to get out of bed today.

Oh, but wait, I did not tell you about my wake-up call yesterday. Micah crawled into bed with us about 5:30 and laid there kicking each of us. Then as he was finally starting to doze he rolled over and stole my covers. I couldn't take them back because being cold is better than being kicked. It's now 6:30. Enter Becky who says that Flash (the pony) is out. Josh had asked if he could get up at 6:30 and ride. Being stupid, I said "sure." The chances of him actually doing this were slim to none. Turns out it was more slim than none. So there I am in my pajamas running after a black horse in the thick fog. She's having a grand time prancing, head and tail up, running circles around me. I'm cold, wet and my eyes weren't really focusing. When I caught her I rode her back to the barn. Serves her right.