When Bed Hoppers Attack

To say I'm exhausted and tired of being a mom would be an understatement. I'm so tired of this 24/7-thankless-cleaning-mess-all-day job, I wish I could run away for a few days like Ashley Judd did in the "Ya Ya Sisterhood" movie and sleep in a hotel with no phone, no computer, no communication with the outside world. There is just always something to clean around here. Always. And I want to get away from it.

Yesterday, I did eight loads of laundry and washed the waterproof mattress pads and bedsheets for every bed in the house except the guest room bed. All because my youngest, who I now call The Bed Hopper, came into my room at 4 am and peed all over my bed. Under normal circumstances, this would not have warranted washing four beds, but of course, everything that happens to me seems to happen exponentially. In her attempt to find a drier place to sleep, she wound up leaving pee stains on every bed in the house, I think she even peed on her brother because he woke me up in the morning wondering why his clothes felt damp when he swears he didn't have an accident. The Bed Hopper didn't try to hide it at all, in fact, she confessed first thing in the morning saying, "Accidents happen. Can you give me a bubble bath?" I ended up having to give all three of them a bath because everyone had been tainted by The Bed Hopper's pee.

It took me all day to wash and change the beds, in addition to doing all the other laundry I had been procrastinating. I got done around 10 pm last night, watched Fantastic Four on DVD (the highlight of my day), and went to bed only to wake up to another round of chaos. It just doesn't end. Most of this morning was spent arguing with the kids about why they can't wear summer clothes to school anymore (because it's freezing outside, that's why!), dressing them, trying to make them eat at least a graham cracker before going to their 2-hour schools, and trying to find my damn cell phone. I didn't even notice my cell phone was missing until I got in the car to take the kids to school. I was so furious, we were already running late and now this. But I had to find my phone because I never drive without it. I finally found it under my bed after calling it five times and playing Follow the Ringtone around the house. Thank goodness the phone was switched to "ON" when it was lost.

Today, I'm just tired. I wanted to come here and write about something a little less whiney, but I just couldn't muster anything else. I hate that the kids don't nap anymore, and when I ask them to do something, like clean up the mess they just made, they act like they didn't even hear me. I could be yelling at them with a megaphone and they still wouldn't hear me. I have to repeat myself over and over again just to be heard. I'm trying hard to keep it together and "enjoy this time" like all the older mothers I run in to keep telling me, but I'm finding it hard to do when most of my day is spent cleaning up after them. One mess after another. The only reason I'm even enjoying this blissful moment to complain is because I'm letting the twins TP (toilet paper) the family room. And spread goldfish crackers all over the carpet. It's worth it though, because I figure vacuuming crackers and picking up tp shreds is a piece of cake compared to doing a mountain of laundry.