Thursday, May 14, 2009

Bellyachin'

Today was supposed to be Harrison's last day of school, which I was quite sad about for several reasons. He loves it. I love it. He's growing up. I'm going to have to grow up and entertain him myself every afternoon, all summer. But then he started crying that his stomach hurt at 9 AM and didn't stop crying about it until noon. Now that's what I call bellyachin'. This is the third time we've dealt with this problem in the last couple of months. The first two times I took him to the Dr., because it's quite alarming to see your child in so much pain. But let me tell you what I learned from those two experiences -- if you want your child to have a miraculous recovery, just schedule a Dr's appointment for him. So this time, I just waited for it to pass, and hoped it would be before school started, because I knew once it passed, he'd be fine, and I wanted him to go and enjoy his last day. We can all remember what a magical day the last day of school is right?

Well, he told me he didn't think it would be a good idea to go to school because he didn't want to get his friends sick (even though I'm pretty sure constipation isn't contagious, and I'm pretty sure it's constipation, although he never did unconstipate himself , and he seemed to make a full recovery). Every time I questioned him on whether or not he really wanted to miss his last day of school he said, "Don't worry mom, I'll get to see all my friends at the picnic on Monday." It's sad when you're 4 year old is more rational about these things than you are.

All that bellyachin' kind of set the tone for the rest of the day and it went a little something like this.

Children watched Toy Story 2. Twice.

Children took baths mostly for entertainment value, which lasted over an hour each (Elizabeth took two of these, actually), so Mother could finish the best book she's read in over a year, The Thirteenth Tale.

Children and Mother ate a delicious and nutritious "Kraft Dinner."

Mother got "dressed" (changed out of lounge pants into jeans, and put on hat to cover dirty hair) at 7:15 PM to go to the grocery store. Also for entertainment value. Kids got to ride in car cart, eat free cookies and ride penny horse. Mother got to replenish chocolate supply that has seriously diminished since singleparenthood began a week ago. (Is he away on business or pleasure you ask? Well he's in Cali where we used to live, spending every spare moment he's not working with his old buddies, so the jury's still out on that one.). Anyway, we don't even have chocolate chips and I swear I only opened that Costco-sized bag a month ago. The good ice cream was on sale for $2.69. Rocky Road or Mint Chip? Let's just get both. Grabbed a bunch of bananas and two mangoes to make myself feel better.

Someone better hurry home, or there's going to be a whole lot more bellyachin' around here!

(I just proofread this post and realized the last line could be interpreted to mean that my stomach will hurt if I don't stop eating macaroni and cheese for dinner and two kinds of ice cream for dessert. Which would be an understandable misunderstanding. I meant the kind of bellyachin' my mom used to tell me to stop doing.)

6 comments:

Nash said...

we must have taken the same parenting class.
it's like reading my life.
i love it.
been single parenting it alot and i don't love it.
we honestly had pizza 4 times last week. i am NOT kidding. paul was shocked. oh well.
hope he gets home soon for you.

sarah said...

Hey Michelle!
My book club read that book several months back. It was a very good read! I do love a good book, but pretty much limit myself to one a month. I get engrossed in a good book, and do nothing else!! Hope Nate returns home soon.

Melissa said...

I was totally laughing through this whole thing. You are so funny!

Tiffany said...

With Harrisons whole "bellyachin" thing... if it continues to be a problem, he might be lactose intollerant (Nate is right?). It's the constipation pain, without the constipation. And there can be different levels, so it might not be every time he has milk, but when he has too much.

I think your hilarious, and I LOVE trips to the store just to get out of the house... We do that a lot. I always tell myself it's cheaper then taking them someplace we have to pay to get in, but I always end up spending at least $20 in non-essentials (like chocolate!) anyway. So maybe not as cheap as I thought :)

The Harrisons said...

I'm glad you loved Thirteenth Tale. A lady suggested it for our book club and we were trying to get her to explain to us what it is about. She told us a little and no one seemed like they wanted to read it. If you love it though, I'm sure to enjoy it!

Rachel Kirkham said...

Michelle! So I am a bit of a stalker and found your blog from Facebook. Your family is beautiful and you look so happy! I'd love for you to check out our blog at rachandjay.blogspot.com. I'm glad to see you're doing so well and glad to be back in touch! XO, Rachel