What Else Can Go Wrong Here?

My boys are all sick. Ben is definately on the mend, Mitchell is right in the middle of it, and Jack is just starting. Fun. How I am not sick is a mystery to me.

Ben was well enough to send to school today, but Mitchell was still coughing a pretty nasty sounding cough, so with a desire to keep his teacher on my good side, I decided to keep him home with me. Only about half an hour after school would normally have started for him though, he seemed good as new and I was wondering what in the world I would do with him for the next few hours that I normally don't have to plan things for him!

I suddenly remembered that our neighborhood McDonald's recently remodeled their play room and we hadn't checked it out yet, so I packed my sick(ish) little boys up and we headed off for some lunch and playtime.

The moment we stepped through the door, I knew I had made a mistake. The place was PACKED! The remodel had taken over half of the restaurant, devoting it to a play place for the little ones. Great news, right? Well, not so great if you have hungry boys and no where to sit! We ended up sitting on tall bar chairs, balancing while trying to eat. Half way through the meal, Mitchell needed the restroom in an emergent way and we had to get there NOW! Well, I had lunch items to pack up, boys to get down from bar stools, jackets to grab and carry, purse to find somewhere in the mess, giant 1-year-old to carry because he refuses to follow me if left to walk on his own... we got there in time - barely.

I gave up on eating anything after that, poured my undrunk (and gross) coffee down the drain, and headed to the playroom. It was a zoo. Here in the city, it is difficult to find free ways to entertain your children indoors, so the nannies were taking full advantage of this place! I think each nanny must have had 6 kids with her, or else someone was just dropping their kids off and coming back for them later. The kid to adult ratio just didn't add up...

Mitchell and Jack played for about 10 minutes before Mitchell started coughing. A normal cough at first, which is usually my sign to get out the cough medicine. As I did not have it with me, it quickly progressed to a more persistent and wet sounding cough. After only a few minutes, he was coughing so hard and so often that he had to come sit down and there were only a few seconds between coughs. Next comes the cough-induced gagging, which was my sign to grab coats, purse, 4 year old, and toddler and try to get shoes back on before the vomiting started. I could feel every woman's "evil eye" on me (rightfully so) as I desperately tried to get out of there before I further infected the other children and, more importantly, before he threw up!

Just as I was getting the first shoe on, the coughing intensified. Cue the gag reflex. Cue the vomit. I didn't realize he wasn't really chewing his food. The evidence of 4 whole orange wedges was enlightening to me. Thank goodness he didn't really have much of his lunch and we just had oranges and foul smelling water all over the floor (and one unfortunate woman's shoe... sorry...) Shoe #2 is now on and up comes the rest of the contents of his stomach. I was ready for it this time and I caught i (gross) and tossed it in the trash.

I didn't bother putting coats back on, but picked everything up, one kid under each arm (good thing I work out!) and ran out of there as fast as I could. I didn't even bother to wash my hands first. My first priority was to get away from the other children, then the people eating their lunches. Does it really matter if I wash my hands immediately if my shirt is covered in vomit anyways?

Poor Mitchell. It must be terrifying to cough until you vomit. I obviously took on more than he was ready for today, despite his feigned "recovery" this moning. I should have been satisfied staying indoors in our jammies, coloring and watching The Land Before Time. Lesson learned... I hope...

That's All You Want?

Last day of soccer today.  It's been fun.  We got off to a shaky start with Mitchell, but it only took a couple weeks for his true colors to show through his attitude.  As you can see from the pictures, he even changed his mind about the uniform!  He decided that he actually does have an imagination and it was fun to pretend to be a shark or a race car or a booger or whatever the heck they do out there.

Ben rocked the field with his shaggy hair and sweet soccer shoes.  Although not always the most coordinated or focused player on the team, he had a great attitude and was clearly loving his coaches and the game in general.  

After their last class today, I took them to McDonald's for a post-game treat.  They have just discovered the concept of a drive-through and much prefer that to actually going inside (awesome!).  As we sat in line, I asked what they wanted.  Ben asked for his very own pop!  I tried to clarify, making sure he knew he was not getting that on top of a milk shake, certain he didn't quite understand, but he was positive: a Coke is what he wanted.  That's it.  "I want my very own Coke like daddy drinks and I don't want to only have a sip and I don't want to have to share it."  Mitchell, of course, quickly echoed the same thoughts, so a couple dollars later, we have the cheapest special treat ever!  Two tiny Cokes, coming up!  

Difficult Choices

Hurray!  Both boys have filled their sticker charts!  

We recently reinstated the use of sticker charts with our boys.  It is funny - a sticker on an empty chart at the beginning is far less motivating than when we they get down to the last few spots.  Those stickers are vigorously sought after!  Once they can almost feel that "special toy" in their hot little hands or taste that "special treat" on their tongues, it is amazing how motivated they are to fill up those last few spots!  I have boys asking what they can clean for me and if they can please practice their letters and saying things like, "Did you see how kind I just was to Jack?" and "I sure love you, mom," and "I just brought the mail up for you, mom!"

This time, for their reward, they both decided to pick out a toy at the store.  After choosing something in the acceptable price range, we came home with two small airplanes - one for each boy.  Ben got his immediately, but Mitchell still had one spot to fill, so he had to wait a bit.  By the time he did fill it, he had changed his mind about what he wanted and was certain that he would like an ice cream cone at McDonald's instead.  I tried my hardest to help him understand that once he ate his ice cream cone, there was no going back and he couldn't then change his mind again.  He assured me that he understood and we rode our bikes to McDonald's for his chosen treat.  We had a great time and Mitchell fully enjoyed his ice cream (even voluntarily shared a few bites with Ben!), but as I suspected, the moment we returned home, he said he decided he wanted his plane after all.  I just knew he was going to do this!  I reminded him that we had already talked about this, but he suddenly didn't seem to understand anymore.  It didn't help at all that Ben was very disappointed that his new plane didn't have a "friend" to fly with and was joining in the battle on Mitchell's side, fighting with him for double treats.  I had to stand my ground, of course, but in the end, I think that when Mitchell sees Ben playing with his treat after his treat has long digested, he feels a bit cheated.  Maybe next time I should eliminate the choice for him and just get him a little treat ahead of time and avoid the drama.  

This does make me wonder about Mitchell though.  Does he really not get it and did he really feel cheated, or is he smarter than I give him credit for and was intentionally trying to work me on this?  I really can't tell with Mitchell...