Up All Night

I don't know about you, but when I have to get up at 5 AM every morning (that's right, my kids are early risers) I need to go to bed by 10 PM.  No late news for me, and we tivo Craig Ferguson.  So imagine my surprise being woken up at 11:30 PM by my bed shaking like a San Fransico earthquake.  My husband's coughs have no break, poor man, until 1 AM.  At 2 AM my six-year-old comes down stairs, "Mom, my stomach hurts." So we go upstairs to take a look.  The whole upstairs is lit up like a Christmas tree because my four-year-old has thrown up in bed.  Send the six-year-old to bed, clean up the four-year-old and run to the store for emergency gatorade.  Set the four-year-old up and six-year-old comes out with two-year-old in hand.  He is coughing so hard his "tummy hurts."  Send six-year-old back to bed; rock two-year-old and put him back to bed.  Tell six-year-old to eat a couple of crackers because goodness knows that I am too hungry to sleep and tell her to go back to sleep.  Check on the four-year-old, she is sleeping--it is 3:15 AM.  Lay down and hear ten-month-old coughing in her sleep.  Sigh and close my eyes.  3:45 AM six-year-old, "Mom, I threw up."  Clean bathroom, change pajamas, and wait for it to come again.  Start reading (by the way, I have a cold and have lost my voice) a chapter out of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle <amazing book for kids about first-fourth grade>.  Set up a bed on the floor for six-year-old and put her to bed; it is 4:30 AM.  Lay down, close my eyes, alarm goes off at 5 AM.  Get up, take shower, check on everyone.......
Ask Husband to Stay Home and I Take a Nap.

My Superhero

Lately my son has been crazy over superheros in all their characters.  We see Spiderman on backpacks while dropping off the first grader.  We tie on the Superman cape as he goes zooming through the house rescuing the damsels (all three sisters) in distress.  And I have been his favorite "bad guy" to karate chop.
Last night my knight in shinning armor (that's right Daddy made him an oak sword out of scraps from the workshop), came down in his big sister's pink tutu.  "Look Daddy.  Skirt," and laughed his head off.  My husband kept a straight face and asked him what color it is, "Piiiink."
"Do boys or girls wear pink?"
"Girls."
"Go take it off and put it away please, son."
And as bright as can be, "OK."
I couldn't hold back the giggles as my super-manly, pink-skirted boy toddled back upstairs to play tools with his reluctant sisters.

The Great Dad Moment 1

Yesterday my husband got home early, and we took the kids grocery shopping at Costco.  Our Costco is about fifteen minutes away.  While we were on our way home, we were trying to keep all of the munchkins awake--you know the drill, if they fall asleep in the car, good riddance to a decent bed time routine.  One of their new favorite songs came on the radio (our six-year-old thought it was "The Black Eyed Peas" but it wasn't; amazing what they pick up at such an early age), and we all jammed out to it, even Dad. Not to waste a good thing, we had them dance to all of the songs the whole way home so that they would stay awake.
Today, during errands, the first song we started dancing to came on again.  Our sweet daughter (almost four) says, "Mom, Dada and I danced to this song."  Thank goodness for a Great Dad Moment.