Sunday

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

Okay.


I'd like you to tell me about one (or seven) of your really hard days.

Why, yes, I'd love to start. Thank you.

Last week, my Mom had pneumonia and my Dad had a nasty stomach bug. I strapped my kids in the car and drove the half hour to my parent's house to drop off some chicken soup. When I got there, my Mom was in pitiful condition and my Dad had gotten dehydrated, so much so, that he needed to go to the emergency room. My Mom was in no shape, so I drove him into town and waited in the emergency room with my children. My toddler ate a yellow Skittle off the floor while I checked my Dad in. I gagged. My son and oldest daughter got an education as the room filled with very sick people, even a gunshot wound. My hubby took them home after hour one and bathed them in Purell and I stayed with my Dad-another 7 hours. Turns out he had food poisoning and needed iv fluids, while sharing a room with a drunk granny. She had fallen pouring herself a third glass of Vodka. I'm not kidding. When I finally fell in bed at midnight, I remembered that I totally missed my monthly girl's night out. My Mama said there's be days like this.

My mama said.


Well. I feel better. It's your turn. Tell me all about it:

[insert you]

In honor of you, I'm writing about motherhood this week...stay tuned for a couple of great giveaways just for Moms!

39 comments:

Megan said...

Oh Kristen-that is quite a day! It's always twice as hard to be experiencing a rough day with your kids along for the ride! I haven't had one of those days in a while, but I'll take a rain check and be back when it's my turn:) Hope your week has a better start!
Megan
stepforbrady.blogspot.com

LoveFeast Table said...

I woke to go for a run at 5 am with my 12 year old...not gonna let him run in our hood alone in the dark. Came home, made lunches loaded all kids in car to drive them to school (hour and a half in the car) came home, pulled an extra shot of espresso, received a call from a local pre school. There was a homeless couple in front of their (church) building. They didn't know what to do. Call the police? Get them arrested? For some reason they thought of me. I made a couple of breakfast sandwiches, my neighbor came over and asked to borrow money for milk and bread, I made her a sandwich too. Headed to the church, sat and got to know the homeless couple. I heard their story, and dried the eyes of the day care worker as she marveled at how easy it was to love on people that scared her. Took a list of things the homeless girl needed. Went home to find I'd left the stove on. Thank goodness the house was ok. Changed (no time for a shower) took toddler to endocrinologist to see why he is so small. Went to pick up my kids who were with friends, spent an hour with that mama sharing our hearts. Loaded everyone in the car again to make the trek home only to find there was no dinner prepped. Ordered pizza. Then headed out to a board meeting back down at the school.
Mama said there'd be days like these!
~kristin

Alyssa said...

My two yr old decided to "check" his own diaper for poop...and then finding the poop (which he did NOT like) on his fingers, decided to wipe them all over his new Sunday shirt...then come in to me and wipe them on me before I was able to figure out what it was.
In the midst of cleaning up the diaper, the dog decides she should start to eat the poopy diaper. Yah it was nothing like yours but ugly all the same!
God Bless!

Alyssa
Lifeoflyssie.com

Nicole @Team Pipkin said...

WOW! I remember following your tweets that day. How are your parents doing now?

Okay, so here's my turn...last week was my CRAZY week. My 17yo was on senior schedule for STAR testing and didn't need to be at school regular time. So "HIS" schedule last week went like this: Tuesday he started school at 11am, Wed. 11:10, Thursday 8:30 "where he picked up his cap&gown" & friday 9:45. Now my 15yo is homeschooled but needed to go and take his STAR test in a nearby town. His testing was Mon, Tues from 9-1pm. So here is when the craziness came...my 4yo got a nasty mosquito bite infection that required going to the doctors. SO my plan tuesday was to take the oldest to school then go to the doctors. THAT didn't happen...the 15yo called at 10am and said, "where are you? Its pouring rain & I'm done testing". The 4yo wasn't even awake yet. So grabbed her out of bed, told the 17yo to get ready I'm taking him now. Picked up the 15yo at 10:15, dropped the 17yo off at 10:30 (half an hour before he had to be there). Came home dressed my 4yo cuz she was still in PJ's, fed her and then off to the doctors. Got to doctors about 12pm, went to pharmacy at 1:30 and back home. I felt that I was going out of my mind. I was short tempered with the two that were home. So I gave myself 45 minutes before I picked up the 17yo (from his after school sports)went to Starbucks bought a drink and sat in the car listening to my Women of Faith CD "A Grand New Day"...I felt so much better after that. I needed just to unwind.

Here's the link to see what the infected bite looked like: http://teampipkin.blogspot.com/2010/04/infected-mosquito-bites.html

Rebecca said...

I agree with Southern Gal...a couple of tantrums is nothing compared to this. The yellow skittle...gross!

Jenn @ Beautiful Calling said...

It's bedtime so I'll pass on sharing tonight but had to comment that I was happy to read about the skittle because it's nice to know that it's not just my littles that do that!! (YUCK!)

Anonymous said...

My most recent bad day was in early March. My 4 year old got the cast off his arm (which he broke when he fell off a bike). Which was good. That evening, my 9 year old is out riding bikes and I'm cooking dinner when the neighbor girl rings the doorbell. She tells me that David crashed on his bike and he's just standing there crying. I go out, and he is spitting blood. I bring him home and find that his face is completely scratched up, his mouth is all torn up on the inside, his lip so swollen he can't close his mouth if he tried. I give him a towel to spit into, and tell my sister we're going to the ER (thank goodness she was here and able to watch the younger boys). I try to call my husband but can't get through. I finally get through to him and he meets me at the hospital. We wait for an hour and a half before they triage him (he's spitting blood the whole time and getting dizzy from blood loss). They take a CT scan. They don't have a bed available, so they send us out into the lobby to wait until a room opens up. We wait in the lobby with everyone staring at him (and yes, he's still spititng up blood). Son is completely embarrassed because he knows he looks horrible and everyone who walks into the hospital can see him. I am upset at son's loss of dignity. Two hours later, he gets called back and put into a room. We wait, doctors come and go, and we wiat some more. Son is still spitting up blood, but not as much as before. I leave at midnight so I can sleep and be awake enough to take younger boys to school. Doctors stitch up son's mouth and eventually they let him come home. Hubby and son get home about 4 AM. Then we start the recovery period - and we're still dealing with that. Son may lose his two front teeth - they're barely hanging in there - but it's a wait and see kind of thing.

Then, a week later, I slice my hand open on a broken glass and have to get stitches.

Jar Full of Rocks said...

The yellow Skittle is just as bad as the french fry my 1 year old ate off of the floor in the McDonald's play land on a rainy day. ::gag::

I had a pretty rotten morning (that felt like an entire day) a few weeks ago. It consisted of a screaming banshee, poop on my arm, cereal all over the floor, a talking 2 year old,and hitting, pushing, biting, and yelling.

Here is the link to that if you want to read about it (it isn't long). http://jarfullofrocks.com/2010/04/10/what-doesnt-kill-you/

...and this link will take you to an explanation of what I'm usually reduced to by the time the kids go to bed. http://jarfullofrocks.com/2010/03/16/sunshine-mountain/

I hope your parents are feeling better and I really hope the following day was soo great that you will soon forget about the bad day. :)

Lara said...

2 vomiting children, 1 husband 9 hours away, 1 mom working 1 part-time job.

http://thefarmerswifetellsall.blogspot.com/2010/04/baptism-by-fire.html

Alexia said...

I can't even think of a day "like this" although I've had more than my fair share. I guess that's hope for you though...they fade over time!

And the drunk granny....that's a great story to tell people later. (she wasn't hurt too bad right?)

Unknown said...

I have had so many 'of those days' the past two years that I am just going to be thankful that THIS particular day was a good one; nothing over the top just a good old ordinary kinda day.

Mombrud said...

What a tough day! Days like that inspire somewhat manic laughter in me because as one of my favorite quotes says:"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley
As for my experiences which are many I will just leave a couple of links:
http://brudcrew.blogspot.com/2008/12/prequel-murphys-elves-have-struck.html
http://brudcrew.blogspot.com/2008/12/murphys-elves-strike-again.html
There are many, many more. Just check in my parenting category!

justcallmerie said...

This was one of those days!

Check it out and I hope family is all better!

http://justcallmerie.blogspot.com/2009/12/should-have-charged-admission.html

Smockity Frocks said...

Oh dear! That was a challenging day! So sorry!

As for me, I'll never forget "The Dark Days of Aught Seven". ~shudder~

My husband, the golf pro, went out of state for a tournament, leaving me at home with the six (at the time) children, which I normally handle just fine. Only, we ALL got a TERRIBLE 24 hr. stomach virus. I'm talking about the kind when 5 minutes doesn't pass without someone wretching. I was so weak myself, I could barely walk, and yet I had to take care of 6 barfing kids. I passed out buckets and towels and just hoped for the best.

It was absolutely HORRIBLE!

mommieof4munchkins said...

I hope your parents are doing much better!!

I came home from visiting family in my hometown, during which time I lost my step father to his fight with cancer, only to find that my husband's definition to "keeping laundry caught up" means only do the laundry that is in the laundry room and forget to ask the kids to bring theirs down. 8 loads of laundry later, mind you I was only gone 5 days, and laundry was FINALLY caught up. Then I had to pick up and vacuum the whole house and continue to clean clean clean. I am leaving again this Friday for my step father's services and I am praying that things go better at home this time when I am gone...

Unknown said...

Overall, our weekend was pretty great. Yesterday, however, we learned of something disturbing. We know a guy who has his car dealer license, and in the past we have paid him to go to car auctions on our behalf and find us the perfect vehicle. We learned yesterday that the $7000 we gave him last month to use for a new vehicle was literally gambled away in a card game. No joke. Stuff like this only happens in the movies, right? My husband was actually able to use it as a bit of a witness opportunity, but we are also having to practice some "tough love". We have given him 2 weeks to pay us back, otherwise the proper authorities will need to be notified. Yes, Mama did say there would be days like this!

Liz said...

Up for more than 22 hours, 14 of them traveling with my 7 year old daughter. Luggage didn't arrive and wouldn't arrive for another 18 hours. As I lay down in bed that night I wondered how I would ever run a half marathon in less than 36 hours....

But God is good and I not only survived, I thrived! :-)

Hyperactive Lu said...

HA! I've had one of those YEARS! Sickies every month...the ones that last a week or two because there are 5 ppl. People calling me up and expecting me to do things. Friends on bed rest so we are shuffling between our house and hers every other day. My husband didn't get the job he was expecting. No raise- pay decrease. Trying to pay off debt- almost finished with our Step 2 of FPU and family doesn't understand. Friends don't respect us. Been thinking about home schooling, so I told a select group of close friends and now its out and every time I turn around an acquaintance is telling me how retarded we are... and THATS just since January!!!

Hyperactive Lu said...

Oh and I think you deserve a medal! Sounds like you had a ROUGH time! :( So sorry!

Shelly Wildman said...

How about forgetting your daughter's 16th birthday? Does that count? I just did that this morning. :(

Anonymous said...

Oh, that's easy. I can think of two. I already wrote about them so I hope you don't mind if I just link you:

http://kathleenbasi.com/2007/03/13/of-rsv-vsd-and-umc/

and

http://kathleenbasi.com/2008/11/01/chronology-of-the-worst-day-ever/

Hospitals are no fun. May you never have to enter one again.

Heather said...

Emergency rooms are the worst. No good.

I am sure your parents appreciated your help.

"If you're going through hell, keep on going. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there."

I hummed this song a lot while I was a single parent and having more than my fair share of bad days.

I hope things are better for you today.

Shannon said...

I've had some, but thankfully not that bad in a while.

I really liked Ann Voskamp's post on "Doing the Next Thing". I have to read it on days like that...

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/04/what-to-do-when-you-want-to-give-up-and.html

Sara said...

I can relate to a bad day for sure! Mine was exactly 2 years ago today, April 26, 2008.

Actually it started the night before. Hubby and I both worked full time and both my sitters were unable to watch our girls (age 5 and 9) the next day. I was at church for our recovery ministry after the meeting trying to see if I could find anybody who knew of an emergency babysitter, because we both really needed to be at work the next day. No luck. I called hubby and we worked out a plan for him to take the little one to his work, and I'd take the older one to my work. Not ideal, but workable.

Went home, got the girls ready bed, he came home from work, and said he was going to the store to exchange a dress we had bought. I fell asleep with the girls since I was exhausted from a long day and also 1st trimester pregnant.

Woke up at 2:30 went down to our bed and the end credits of a movie were running on the tv, but hubby wasn't there. After almost a year of sobriety, I knew it was a relapse, but there was nothing I could do.

After a while went back to sleep. Got up early to get the girls ready for work, he still wasn't back, so I figured I'd have to take them both with me to work. What a nightmare!
Then the doorbell rang.

He had crashed his motorcycle and died instantly.

That's what you call a bad day taking a turn for the worse.

I ended up planning his funeral instead of dragging our kids to work to sell cars with me.

~Sara

Sheri said...

I feel like I've been having an extended "bad day" since the beginning of 2010, so I won't even go there. Although it was a really embarrassing day when I headed to an interview for one of my classes without realizing I was wearing a dirty shirt and I forgot to put any makeup on. I looked like I had just rolled out of bed, when really I had been up so long I forgot about basic hygiene! I just want to forget that day.

I hope your parents are better, that sounds very stressful.

Jill said...

I don't have space to fully describe in vibrant detail the events of this last weekend. Husband working overtime, puking kids, breaking appliances, etc. etc. etc. Let your imagination run wild. The Grand Finale to my Sunday evening was cleaning the vomit from the crevices of my wedding ring before heading to bed. Fun. I awoke this morning to discover my youngest now has pink eye. Happy Monday!

Unknown said...

It was my 11 year old daughters birthday and we went to the wave pool just across the border, she got thrown down by the new wave machine that was so strong it made me puke, cut her knee open and started bleeding everywhere, it required stiches which we were not going to do in Canada. I loaded up my children, and 2 other families in my passenger van. Made a quick stop at starbucks and paid $7 for the most disgusting drink ever (their exchange rate was messed up), Went to the DR, Got stiches. The NEXT day, I was making homemade Pizza for another birthday celebration and my 3 year old stuck her foot in the garbage disposal and turned it on! I wrapped it in a towel to contain the bleeding and headed off to the Dr. again. Oh yeah, the day before we went to the wave pool my 6 year old got the cast off his broken leg, they had to replace the cast twice because he wore it out and when they took it off I puked because the smell was so bad, I was 7 months preg. as well. Not all in one day, but a busy 3 days!

Kristine said...

Hmmm. Let's see. How about last October, when my husband left for a research conference. I though it would be no big deal to take care of the kids for those 3 days. Then the swine flu hit. I could barely stand, let alone take care of our six. Thank goodness, they didn't need much more than a place to lie down and moan. I still remember my 10 year old asking me what was for dinner. I told him "Whatever you want to make!" We lived off our supply of cereal . . .

Or how about the time my two boys smeared poop all over the wall of their bedroom? Or mashed sunscreen into the carpet? Or my two year old emptied an entire carton of eggs in my living room while I had collapsed from pregnancy and anemia-induced exhaustion? Or when my 18 month old refused to fall asleep without someone holding him, for an entire week, because he got pneumonia?

I guess this is all to say, there will be more days like this. But you'll have some breaks with days full of fun and laughter too. You just have to choose what to emphasize and remember.

Jeannett said...

Ok...are you ready? It's BAD.

I was in the middle of potty training my 2 year old. (really I could stop right there, couldn't I???) He said he needed to poop. So he did. In his pants. As I tried to pull down his underoos in the bathroom, it was a disaster. There was nasty everywhere and it was only getting worse, so I finally gave up. I pulled down his pants, scooped him up and carried him upstairs and straight into the shower.

As I stood testing the water temp, I remembered. HORROR.

My 9 month old!

Who crawls.

Who is *awfully* quiet.

I ran faster downstairs than I likely have ever ran.

Only to find my sweet lovely little girl...

EATING. Yes, EATING her brother's poop.

It was everywhere.

She had smeared it all around the hardwood floors (thank the good Lord it wasn't carpet!), had it all. over. herself...including her FACE...and was...

wait for it...

CHEWING. Chunks?

I don't know.

I just know that I was dry heaving as I tried to clean her up.

Mind you, I also managed to STEP in some of this smeared nastiness and left a trail through the living room and kitchen.

2 out of 3 kids were covered in poop, my entire living room was covered in poop. As was my foot.

It was fab.

Needless to say, it was a bad day.

And did I mention it wasn't even 8 a.m. yet???

Dawn said...

Wow!!! What a day. You can't make that kind of stuff up!

I hope your parents are much better now and that your kids didn't catch something during all that mess!

raveninthewolfden said...

AH! that was exausting just reading that! Thanks for sharing that with me. Its such a good thing that you showed up at your parents house when you did!

I will stay tuned.. I love giveaways!

Speaking of.. I am sponsoring one on Wednesday! Its going to be of Scentsy stuff. YUMMY!
have a good evening!

Heather said...

Okay my worst day was a while ago and I praise God for that everyday. At least they happen when you are strong or make you stronger ( I think). I went to visit my mom and dad three hours away with three kids and 6 months pregnant with the last. As we were leaving my mom came and got me and asked me to look at my dad who was turning a weird gray color. I told him pick one, me driving you to the emergancy room or a ambulance drive. Off we go and thank God everything was somewhat okay. My worst fear was he was having a heart attack (lost both of his parents that way). We found out after months of tests that he had shingles caused by stress. The good thing is they finally got him to retire and now he is better than ever.
Praying that your parents are on the road to recovery.

Heather said...

Okay my worst day was a while ago and I praise God for that everyday. At least they happen when you are strong or make you stronger ( I think). I went to visit my mom and dad three hours away with three kids and 6 months pregnant with the last. As we were leaving my mom came and got me and asked me to look at my dad who was turning a weird gray color. I told him pick one, me driving you to the emergancy room or a ambulance drive. Off we go and thank God everything was somewhat okay. My worst fear was he was having a heart attack (lost both of his parents that way). We found out after months of tests that he had shingles caused by stress. The good thing is they finally got him to retire and now he is better than ever.
Praying that your parents are on the road to recovery.

Unknown said...

Had to comment on this one :) My worst day in the past year was when my husband (of three months)deployed to Afghanistan for a year. Driving home from that, my mom called to tell me that my grandmother had passed away unexpectedly. Good thing I was already heading home (3 states away) for my godfather's funeral at the end of the week. That's not even getting into the mortgage, bank account, and life insurance problems we were having because none of the companies wanted to accept my powers of attorney or that my mother in law decided it was my fault her son was leaving the country. :) Things have kinda snowballed from there. I'm looking forward to having Handsome home again in 2 months. It's time lol!

TDM Wendy said...

I know that was awful to experience, but it read like a good movie. Not the fact that your parents were sick, but the skittle and the drunk lady really livened it up!

Milissa said...

I had a miscarriage a few weeks ago. You can read about it here:

http://milissawagner.blogspot.com/2010/04/ive-debated-sharing-thisbut-it-might-do.html

I still have melt downs, but I'm on the mend.

Cathy said...

Well, I wrote about one of them here:
http://cathycordero.blogspot.com/2010/04/thursdays-true-confessions.html

But there have been others and worse...just part of life, I guess.

Love said...

i raise your yellow skittle a peanut off the GAS STATION BATHROOM FLOOR that our son almost tipped his umbrella stroller over to get to.

i'm normally so laid back, but i screamed a little and ripped it out of his mouth. UGGGH. then he was heart-broken from it all and i was heart-broken because he's still learning to trust about food after living in an orphanage most of his life. UGHHHHH. i scooped him up and bought him CLEAN food as quickly as possible. {while everyone stared at him screaming in the stroller, the other baby i was wearing in the sling, the 3 year old that i was carrying on my hip because she didn't have shoes on BUT HAD TO GO TO THE BATHROOM, and the 5 & 6 year old that were just trying to help it all!!!!!}

wow--thanks for letting me vent all that. it was a rough 1/2 hour. =)

Unknown said...

Baby's first birthday party, Pastor/Husband has a funeral to help with the morning of, then we take birthday boy to the dr. because he was awake all night with a low-grade fever, can't set up for party until an hour before, poop all over birthday outfit, nacho cheese dumped in the car, impatient family, crying birthday boy who will only let Daddy hold him=exhausted mommy, knowing that hopefully this is as bad as a birthday gets. :)