Rain, rain, go away OR The Electronic Ties That Bind

Today, it is pouring down rain and I escaped to write – yeah for me! Honestly, that in and of itself says something – I haven’t written since it last rained in Houston, like, what, four months ago?!?! This fact, and a few more interesting/mundane things depending on how you look at it left me with a few epiphanies.

First, I, like most parents, really need to carve out more “me” time. I really do enjoy writing but I’m usually so exhausted at the end of the day I can’t get more than a few words out, let alone something witty. I also need to exercise more as clearly pointed out by my offspring. During this rain-enforced house arrest, I was telling the kiddos to do something for the umpteenth-thousand time. One of them made some wisecrack and I retorted something along the lines of “Yeah, my big fat touche!” Oldest Christopher, who is a little more savvy in the ways of making points, was quick to defend my derriere by saying that is was neither big nor fat. Middle Simon, on the other hand, jumped in with his opinion, “Mommy, it’s just small and chubby.” Thank you, I think…

Apparently, the solid day of rain has caused all parents and children to develop a case of cabin fever. When I was doing my best to corral my bunch into watching a movie, the doorbell rang. Apparently, some of our good neighbor friends had had enough and ordered everyone to do something. I’m sure the children asked what in the world were they supposed to do, after all, like all our children, they have what costs, way more terms of toys, games, videos, etc., than the GNP of any third world country. To which, the parents said, “I don’t know? Go play in the rain!” Which is exactly what they did and exactly how my darlings decided to follow suit. Fine, until the thunder and lightening. While most of you know I am an extremely laid back parent, bordering on what some would consider apathetic, thunder and lightening deems a calling home. Maybe it is from my days as a life-guard, but I don’t mess around with G-d’s light show. Soooo, warm bubble baths for everyone. At this point it is only a little after 2:00 p.m. Silly me, and I’d planned on a nap.

Then all hell broke loose. First, Simon apparently swallowed a rather great deal of bubbles and proceeded to gag and throw up IN the bath. Alex had to go pee and flushed the toilet which proceeded to overflow. While trying to get Simon out of the tub, we noticed that the water wasn’t draining. Meanwhile back at the ranch, I had to use the restroom and, upon flushing, the toilet in MY bathroom overflowed. At this point, I have to fill you in on the story-before-the-story. About a week ago, Youngest Alexander decided that he wasn’t getting enough attention and “pretended” to poop in his pants. Once we stopped whatever we were doing to acknowledge him, we found that he had actually stuck something in his underwear for the pretend poop. He then ran as fast as he could into my bathroom, threw whatever it was into the toilet and flushed it. Thus, the plumbing issues that ensued.

After removing the toilet from its place in the bathroom and rotor-routing from the hole in the floor AND the overflow outside in the pouring rain, whatever it was must have gotten flushed out to the sea. After all, as we learned in “Finding Nemo”, all drains lead to the ocean. While Hubby Shelby ran to Lowe’s to get the new seal to re-install the toilet, I came across a copy of my latest and greatest fav from the Border’s liquidation sale – “Sh*t My Kids Ruined” by Julie Haas Brophy. Not only did reading this book make me feel better about my natural inability to parent, I actually felt there was hope! This book has gained such notoriety that there is even a Facebook page were people can contribute their own stories. After reading some of these stories, even the marker on the new leather couch and the penciled-in “Chrisland” on the hallway door don’t make me cringe anymore!

Whew! While I didn’t get a nap, I did get to spend some good quality time with my kids. Alex was on the computer in the boy’s room playing a Dora game, Simon was on his top bunk with the iPad, Christopher was stretched out with me on the bottom bunk with his iPod, and I typed away on the laptop. While I am not normally a fan of the electronic gadgets that pull my children into an alternative universe of which I am not a part, today we were all in the same room, together, enjoying the sound of the rain. Every now and then, someone would need help with their chosen activity to which one of us would good naturedly hop up and help before returning to our own little world. While I would have much rather had everyone together outside at the zoo or the park or whatever, this was good. THIS is what I signed up for!