Ian...what am I going to do with him?

For starters, Jared was out of town, again when this happened. I am still mastering the art of patience and when he is gone it is just a bit more difficult. It isn't because the kids really act differently; it is because I miss my venting sessions at night with Jared.

Strike 1:
Last night Ian was in a spitting bad mood, literally there was spit. Anyway, despite the fact that it was only 5pm I put him down for a nap. I committed the cardinal sin of parenting...the beyond too late nap. I knew I would pay for it later, but I figured he would probably wake up after the rest of the kids were in bed. I wouldn't have anyone else to watch So You Think You Can Dance with, so why not? He did wake up late and was wired.

By 11:30pm I was tired. I turned all the lights off and came to bed. While I was doing the nighttime routine...teeth, bathroom, scriptures, prayers. I noticed a light back on. I went to check Ian.

He was being sneaky. He had climbed to the top of the fridge, grabbed the bag of Starbursts and was back in his bed chowing down. I took the bag away despite the super loud protests, turned off all the lights and got in bed. About 10 minutes later I heard Ian again. This time he was in the kitchen with an entire carton of OJ shoved into his lunch bag and attempting to put in a jar of pickles as well. Who is pregnant here anyway?

I finally got him in bed, but it wasn't without a great deal of effort and crying (Ian, not me)!

Strike 2:
The next morning my good friend calls and asks me to watch her kids while she spends the day at Labor & Delivery trying to get her contractions to stop. Of course I say yes because it is Stephanie and her kids are practically my kids too (only I can send them away). Well, you know the addition of extra kids means an increase in the volume of the home. I didn't even hear Ian go to the garage or get into my van.

After several activities and me trying really hard to get the house in presentable shape I offered the kids the option of going to the pool. It is hard enough to get my four kids ready, but adding 2 more is a real undertaking. We finally have everyone ready and in the van. I thought it was weird that the overhead lights weren't on as I buckled three of the six kids.

I finally got in my seat and turned the key to get...NOTHING. I mean not even the click-click sound. It didn't take me long to realize that some child had turned my car to the on position where it sat for uhm...the entire day! I wasn't happy at all.

I sent the kids into the house, lined them all up on the couch and asked each one of them who had done it. "Not me" was a very present force in the discussion. After everyone denied it, I told them they could all sit on the couch until I found out who it was. It still took another 3 minutes for Ian to fess up. Even when he did admit to playing in the car he passionately denied having turned the keys...LIAR :) Do you ever wonder if your kids think you are really that dense?!?

When the Carroll's kids got picked up, I had their dad jump my van. I didn't like the idea of being stranded at home for another full day until Jared got home. With my luck we would need stitches and the van wouldn't start!

Strike 3:
The next time we went out to the van, I was going to treat the kids to dinner at McD's. I don't do that very often, actually never, but Jared has been out of town four times in six weeks and we are all getting bored with it. I had hyped it up for myself as well as the kids.

We get all buckled (overhead lights are on so I'm thinking we will be good). I turn on the van and...CLICK, CLICK.

Seriously, how frustrating can one day be? Then I felt really bad because the kids were all mad at Ian for "breaking the van". I have to admit that I shared a great deal of their frustration! He took it like a man though and just swallowed his pride and said, "sorry". Sweet, when he wants to be!

Finally...
You know sometimes kids' antics are cute, but sometimes they are just down right frustrating. I had some of each.