Februrary in a Flash

The first week of February was a good one and I was optimistic about the rest of the month. I had thought I'd post a little more often on the blog, but I didn't after all. Now I want to catch up on February and can't seem to remember anything significant happening. I got really sick during the second week of February--I went to bed on Tuesday night feeling fine, but at some point during the early morning hours I started feeling hot and restless. Thankfully the kids were at Mr. Fob's, as they usually are on Tuesday nights, because by Wednesday morning I felt like I had been run over by a truck. It's been a while since I have been that sick. I managed to crawl out of bed long enough to send some emails to people letting them know I wasn't coming to work. I also took my temperature, confirming that I had a fever, and went back to bed. I knew that if I could get up and fix myself some food, and take some medicine, I'd feel better. I just couldn't do it. Finally, at about noon, I got out of bed and made some oatmeal. After eating and taking some medicine I started to feel a bit better, and somehow made it through the rest of the afternoon and evening routine with the kids. Then I got them in bed and crashed some more--Thursday I felt slightly better and my fever finally went away. Friday I was well enough to get back to work, but it took a few more days before I really felt recovered. 

That weekend was the long holiday weekend and Valentine's Day. I hate it when I've looked forward to spending time with the kids and then things don't go well and we're all in a bad mood. I think I wasn't entirely recovered from being sick, so that didn't help either. On Saturday we made a last-minute decision to go to Ikea to get a few things, including new sheets for S-Boogie since hers were worn out. I thought it would be fun to get lunch and do some shopping, and that part of the trip was generally pleasant despite the crowds in the store. However, we also needed to go to the grocery store and that part of the trip used up the rest of my patience. I have a hard time grocery shopping with the kids, and I know part of the reason why I have a hard time is because I'm mentally beating myself up for having a hard time. We always have to go on Saturdays when the stores are really crowded, and I don't take the kids very often, so we aren't used to it. I get mentally overloaded really fast by having to make decisions about what to buy while monitoring three kids that are all milling around and grabbing the cart and asking me questions all the time. Next time we all go shopping together I need to have a better plan and deal with it better--this time Little Dude had a crying meltdown in the check-out lane (after I told him, for the tenth or eleventh time, to stop hanging on the cart and tipping it). We survived the grocery store without making too much of a spectacle of ourselves and spent the rest of the day at home. I made some fun heart-shaped jello for dinner, and attempted heart-shaped calzones that didn't quite work. The day ended nicely despite that afternoon's missteps. It was cold on Monday so we went to the movies--the only kid one available was Paddington and it wasn't terrible. The kids enjoyed it. 

Little Dude got sick later that week and then P.Bibby got sick this past week--both apparently had the same virus I'd suffered from. I stayed home from work last Wednesday, and admit that it was kind of relaxing to be home all day when I was well enough to enjoy it. I kept an eye on P.Bibby, who spent the day snuggling on the couch alternating between reading books and watching shows. I also did some laundry, caught up on homework, and made a big batch of banana muffins. 

The kids were here this weekend and we took things easy; yesterday was cold and snowy, so after running errands in the morning we stayed inside. Thankfully I could go to the grocery store with one kid while the other two were at a piano class--and we discovered that Target at 10 o'clock in the morning is pretty empty (good info to have for future reference). Yesterday afternoon we watched a Harry Potter movie and after dinner we played a board game together. Last night we did have a moment that I thought was going to be terrible and turned out great. We were playing the game Sorry!, which is a bit annoying but is one of the only ones that all three kids can play together. Little Dude had been in a bad mood for a while, for reasons that I really could not understand. As per their usual dynamic, S-Boogie was being silly and teasing him a bit, and not noticing that he really was not in the mood. Finally he got sick of it and punched her really hard in the back. That was a surprise since he doesn't usually do that very often. I took his game pieces off the board and sent him to his room to cool off. After a while he came back out and asked to rejoin the game. I suddenly remembered a concept we had talked about, but that I hadn't really tried out much--the better way to apologize outlined in this blog post. I talked both S-Boogie and Little Dude through their apologies and the mood lightened. It really worked! Little Dude joined us in playing and ended up winning the game. After I got P. Bibby in bed, I let the other two stay up a bit so we could play Rummikub together. This was a much better Saturday than we had two weeks ago, and I can see that my attitude played a big part in it.

And, that was February in a nutshell. We've had some cold and snow, though never enough to stick. We've had a few illnesses, but not enough to keep us down for long. February flew by and we're excited for a busy month of March. Next month the kids have Battle of the Books, Knowledge Bowl, and the school play. Plus I have to register S-Boogie for junior high (I know!), which involves choosing electives, deciding on an instrument to play in band or orchestra, and testing for advanced math. And of course we can't forget Pi Day or Saint Patrick's Day. Hopefully we'll survive and actually have some fun.