Friday, February 10, 2012

When Life Happens and Exhaustion Hits

Fridays are normally a great day for me but today has been completely exhausting. Well, it started last night with having to get up out of bed so many times.  First, one of my sons who has Aspergers Syndrome was doing his poking routine where he just can't seem to leave anyone alone to let them rest.  He already has difficulty falling asleep at night and his way of getting close to another kid or trying to relate is different and comes off as annoying to others.  We go through this a lot with him and he just does better having his own bed or a seat further away from kids in the van.  Generally, the other kids are pretty patient but sometimes they just get tired of it.  Plus, when he can't sleep I generally can't.  I have to make sure he's not wandering around in the dark and that he is letting the other kids sleep.

This happens to me all the time

I must have gotten so many times last night I lost count.  Another reason is I'm always worried about my dog peeing on the carpet so if I hear his nails clacking down the hallway, I'll just out of bed and go let him outside.  I had to wait awhile for him so once I laid back in bed I couldn't fall back asleep for an hour. If I have to get up in the middle of the night I always have a hard time falling back to sleep. 

No matter how bad my day is, this picture always cracks me up
Well, I had an extra kid last night and he was spending the night with my son since he was going to be going to their school for the first time.  He wanted to go with someone he knew.  I had Charles set my alarm extra early this morning so I had extra time for bad bouts of morning sickness once I wake up.  I dragged the 7 kids out of bed, helped them dress their tired bodies, and feed breakfast, and we finally headed out for school.  I wave goodbye from the van and put my van in reverse to leave.  Well, we weren't moving.  The van would NOT back up.  I revved and revved but got nothing.  Sigh.  I sat there for a half hour not knowing what to do.  My daughter had to potty really bad and we were stuck.  I finally pulled out the emergency kid toilet from the bed, layered it with half a diaper on the bottom and let her go. Right then my son pooped his diaper and for some reason I happened to forget the wipes this morning.  After I change him I look down and see a huge foot print right on my newly cleaned shirt.  How...?  It couldn't of been from my little kids.  Then I remembered that earlier my son had put his foot up on my lap so I could double knot it.  Now I have this nice big designer print on my pregnant belly.


I called my husband to tell him I was stuck.  A lady gets out of her van next to me and offers help.  I already had help coming so we just talked.  Being this is a school just for homeschooled kids I had a fun time talking with her since we had something in common.  It was so great meeting you, Jennifer!  The tow truck wasn't gonna come for a bit so Charles and I went in his car to a restaurant.  The service was terrible and we could never find our waitress.  It took 45 minutes to get the food so we had little time to eat.  Phooey, just a nice little topper to the stress.

Following the tow truck
Turns out our transmission locked up and that's why I couldn't reverse and my husband couldn't even pushed it.  I'm finally home now and utterly exhausted.  Our van is towed home and safe and sound.  This will complicate things but thankfully I don't have to drive my van very often.  I really don't have any energy for cleaning of any sort and just want to crash.  Fridays are such a great day for me to either run errands or clean but this is just not one of those days.  

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Ahhhhh! I hate days like this! Days where everything just seems to go wrong and you get the feeling that you should have just stayed in bed. I am having one of those days today, just spiritually...not physically. Hope things get better and your van is not too pricey to fix!!! (Oh, and the picture of the person in bed with the little voice giving them all the GOOD ideas...that is me too! Ugg...those great ideas just hit at the most awful times, don't they???)

Anonymous said...

So sorry about your van and crazy day! Ugh! Car trouble! At the risk of being "that annoying lady that always has some tip" I wanted to suggest www.naturesinventory.com for their sleep aide essential oils. It is totally natural and harmless, doesn't interact with any medications and can be used on kids over 2. I got it because my daughter fights insomnia and she loves it! Helps her fall asleep, stay asleep and sleep deeply. It's about $15 for a bottle and thought you might want to look in to it for your son (and you!) I've tried it too and I like it. Smells weird at first, but then it smells good, kinda funny, I know! Here's to a good night's sleep tonight and a small repair bill on your van!

Mindy Kennedy said...

Whoops, didn't mean to be anonymous, that was me above.

Virginia Revoir said...

No problem, Mindy, I always love ideas. :) So it works great an you've really seen a difference?

Sally, I took a 2 hour nap as soon as I posted this blog. Oh man, I didn't even get to clean today and I have company coming. Hopefully my friend loves me anyway. :)

Leanne Ferguson said...

WOW what a day. And I can't believe you do so much!! All those kids, a challenging kid, an extra kid, a husband, home school,a blog and a *VAN. Man, I can only do a blog some work and minimal house work. You are amazing!

Virginia Revoir said...

Oh my goodness, Leanne, you are super encouraging. I don't feel very amazing. I think sometimes I have such a high standard for myself that it makes me feel like I just never measure up. I always figure everyone can do it so much better. I need to remember I am human. :) Moms don't automatically come with capes attached.

Unknown said...

The one think I HATE most in life is car trouble, it leaves you stranded and costs so much to fix... I also hate the days I have ran out the door and forgot the wet wipes, sure enough they will poop when that happens.