Here we go...hello new normal

It is strange in my house right now.  It is 8:20 p.m. and the kids are all sleeping.  What the hell is going on? I feel like when the babies were small and sleeping so soundly that you worried and felt under their nose to feel they were breathing.  Or nudge them a little so they would grunt a little cute baby grunt and you would know everything is okay.  But of course there were times I would nudge too much and the baby would start crying and the process would start over.


Doesn't everybody do that?


I had a discussion today with my family about how surprising it is that not everyone agrees with something that makes perfect sense....to us.  What is normal for me, may not be so normal for everyone.  I think everyone is totally wrong of course.  And I must tell you that even my family thinks my normal is a little nuts. 


But I don't feel like I even have a normal lately.  Even my kind of nutty, crazy normal.


My husband is sad and full of guilt that he is missing out on, well, everything during the week.  And I am struggling with feeling angry about it.  


The first blog posts I wrote were about my fears of summer vacation.  Would we get through it? Would I be able to entertain all of my children?  Now, wait for it, I am worried about keeping up with everything this fall.  

Thank god, the baby, Wade, is still entertained by his cars. Still fairly simple, except he is runner and must be watched at all times.

So far, it hasn't been so pretty.


On meet the teacher day, my kindergartner bit my second grader and she screamed and cried.   The teacher's eyes widened, her smile tightened and she looked right at me.  No words were needed, the look said it all, it's going to be a long year with the Youngblood children.


So this past long weekend before school started I took it easy.  Cancelled the trip to my mother's because I felt I wasn't quite up for that kind of crazytrain right now.  Tim, my husband, worked for most of the weekend, but I was determined to show the kids some good old normal fun.


As I sat shaving my legs getting ready to take the kids for one last trip to the pool I was giving myself a pep talk.  "It will be alright," I told myself out loud.  Continuing the dialogue in my head with "I will have it all figured out soon.  I will make this the best year ever for my kids, despite the whole no dad around aspect.  I will make it soooooo normal, good normal."


Wade, who was locked in the bathroom with me looked up.  His eyes widened, his smile tightened and he looked right at me.  No words were needed, the look said it all. He found a way out and he was making a break for it.  He ran from the bathroom as fast as he could, laughing the whole time.  This baby cannot be trusted out of an adult's sight.  I ran out of the bathroom in only my bra and underwear, yelling (in my Sam Kinison voice) for the older kids to "get the baby! someone get the baby!"  I chased him out into the living room and screamed louder when I saw the front door wide open, fearing the worst.  


But I had no idea...


Up popped my 9-year-old son's friend.  His eyes widened, his smile tightened and he looked right at me.  No words were needed, the look said it all. I just terrorized a small boy who was forced to see a hysterical woman in her underwear running through the house (no one in my life has seen me run half naked and I shudder at the visual).  I scarred that poor boy.  That poor boy who is in my son's class.


Turns out his parents had driven him over to pick up a toy he had left at our house during the last playdate.  "I can come back later Mrs. Youngblood," the polite boy said backing away in horror and fear, looking down trying to avert his eyes.


"No,"I insisted.  "I will get your toy."  Why couldn't I just leave it alone?  I grabbed a towel, found his toy and gave it to him.  I waved out the window to the parents waiting in the car.  As the boy left I heard him tell his parents "I just saw Mrs. Youngblood in her underpants."


Oh yeah, the baby, Wade, he was hanging out on the front porch with a smug baby grin.


Lucy summed up the whole scene, as only she can, by stating the obvious, "We did NOT need to see that."


That should be a good start to my shy son's fourth grade year when they talk about the incident.
Well kids, there is your normal.


So, really, all I can do is jump into this new normal, this new school year with my fingers crossed damn it.  

Here we go....