Cooking fail. Friday evening Greg was taking a final exam. I did not feel like cooking dinner. I suggested to the kids that we eat cold cereal. David was thrilled. Mary threw a tantrum because she wanted french fries. So I put the kids in the car to make a special trip to the McDonald's drive-thru. Then we ate cold cereal and french fries for dinner. This is why I do not have a cooking blog.
Crafting fail. This weekend I attempted a very simple project, making bulletins boards for the kids' rooms. It required a trip to the fabric store, a place where I am not especially comfortable. Fortunately, I have many childhood memories of going to the fabric store to serve as a guide--otherwise I am sure I would have brought the whole bolt up to the front register without first stopping by the counter to have the appropriate yardage cut off for me. Also, I did not at first know there is an entirely separate section for quilting fabrics. Unfortunately, it was only after half an hour of wondering if I was going to have to complete my project using fleece that I finally found the quilting fabric. But at least I found it.
Said simple project resulted in stapling it to the dining room table. (A light duty staple gun is heavier duty than you'd think.) So then I redid it using an office stapler. That worked well, until I realized I'd made a mistake and had to pull everything out and start again. At least office staples are easily removed. The next time I used a glue gun, which I did not own until a month ago, and that worked fine. Except that I got some of the fabric upside down. But it's staying upside down because I'm not doing the project a fourth time. This is why I don't do crafts.
At least Greg saved me from this craft about fifteen minutes in. It's an exciting purchase made by David today with funds from his allowance.
Seriously, this would have taken me three or four hours. I had much more important things to do--like putting staples in my dining room table.
Couponing fail. Late last night, after spending way too much time in the fabric store, I did my grocery shopping. I was proud of myself for remembering to bring my coupons and planning some of my menu around them. Of course, as I was loading my groceries into the car, I realized that I hadn't used my coupons. (I wanted to cry.) So, in an act completely out of my character, I went back to the store this morning hoping I could return the couponed items and then re-purchase them with my still unused coupons. I could...except that, for health code reasons, they would have to throw away the food items and I would have to take new ones off the shelves. The thought of throwing away perfectly good boxes of cereal just so I could save a few dollars seemed...well, let's just say it made me more uncomfortable than the fabric store. Now I have a pantry shelf of cereal I'm not sure anyone actually likes--and I paid full price for it. This is why I have not been invited to be on an episode of Extreme Couponing.
Parenting fail. Mary almost got run over by a car today. Seriously. She couldn't have cared less, but it was close enough (and scary enough) that it sent David into hysterics. He was bawling. And snotty. But he could not blow his nose afterwards. I have not successfully taught my daughter not to run into the street. I also have not taught my son to blow his nose. There are so many, many things that I have not successfully taught my children. This is why I want to crawl under a blanket and hide. It's too hard.
Teaching fail. Speaking of teaching, every time I tell David that I'm going to be his teacher this summer he bursts into tears. This is why I do not homeschool--and why I am every day more and more in awe of the amazing women I know who do.
Fun fail. Greg was studying all day today, emerging only to eat a sandwich and save me from building that Lego Hero Factory bad guy. Since we were all sad and missing Daddy, I thought it would be fun to go see a movie. We've only taken our kids to one movie in the theater. We saw Tangled last November, and I thought we all had a fun time. What a special treat to go see a movie with Mom while Daddy is studying, right? When I shared my exciting idea with the kids, David shrugged his shoulders and said he's not good at watching movies, and Mary burst into tears. They said they preferred to stay home and watch TV. It is hard to be a fun mom when your kids are no fun.
Nurturing fail. Here are some pictures from Friday evening. We finally had nice weather on Friday, and the kids refused to go outside. This was frustrating to no end. Mary was scared of being cold. (She's emotionally scarred by Wisconsin weather.) And David, well, I'll tell you his deal in a minute. Finally, after our super nutritious dinner, I literally forced them outside kicking and screaming.
They gravitated to the sandbox.
Oh, and, yes, he really was sick. Want to see the proof?
There he is, licking his boogers as they drip into the sandbox.
Because he can't blow his nose.
