My Day, and a Promise (this post is sort of boring)

** This happened on Saturday but as I was typing I fell asleep, so I'm posting it today. **

I woke up early this morning, so that I could get in a work out before my children’s events started.  You see, we had two swimming lessons and two birthday parties to attend.  This meant that we needed to be in various parts of Muscat at 9:35 (the swimming lessons, which were at the same time but still required double organization), noon (the first birthday party) and four (the second birthday party).

After my workout, I messed around with the computer for a bit to see if the planets were aligned so that I could Facetime with my parents (they were not), and then dashed off for a shower.  I checked the kids and made sure they were breathing through the TV trance, and quickly chopped veggies for their lunches for the next couple of days.  Then, I gave them some apple.  All of a sudden, I realized we were going to be late and began frantically blow-drying my hair, collecting swimsuits and goggles and my book and water, extracted screaming children from the television and then strapped everybody in the car.  We drove to school and were barely on time.  I got my book out. 

I love swimming because it’s 30 minutes of absolute peace (and I really want to finish my book!), or ought to be.  But today I ended up chatting with other moms.  I do love chatting but today I would’ve loved reading more.

I retrieved the kids (Lulu’s teacher said she’s very impressed) and semi-showered them off (this is important later).  We got back into the car and drove the 30 minutes home – all the while knowing we would have only 45 minutes at home.  I turned on the last 11 minutes of 101 Dalmatians and continued lunch preparation in the kitchen.  (It would be impossible for me to express how much I hate packing lunches.)  I remembered I hadn’t wrapped the birthday gifts yet.  Wrapped them.  Debated having Tommy write the cards and then decided to just do it myself.  I packed everything Lulu needed for a stint at Eli’s office including a dinner (I knew the second birthday party wouldn’t be pretty if she came) and then guess what I did? I strapped everybody back in the car again.  We drove to the first party.  It was at a pizza restaurant and was a perfectly nice party but for three things:

First, the kids didn’t get lunch until two o’clock.  Tommy loudly announced that he could eat a blue whale, he was so hungry.  The almonds normally in my bag had been eaten and not replaced. 

Second, Lulu felt hot and had a red face and I got worried she was sick again.  (She’s fine, but I think her face was red because her bad mother didn’t get the chlorine off her well and then didn’t have enough time to bathe her at home.)

Third, and this was really the rough part for me, each child was served PEPSI with their lunch.  My kids thought it was fantastic.  (And then acted like little jerks, but I’m sure that had nothing to do with the large doses of sugar and caffeine they’d just ingested.)

We left that party at 2:30 and headed to Eli’s office.  I tried to call him but my phone thought that I had headphones in even though I didn’t.  Once I figured out he could hear me even though I couldn’t hear him, I just talked and realized I sort of liked it that way.  (Not really but sort of.)

So then I drove right onto the enormous construction site and went the wrong way. I spoke to a bunch of men who don’t actually speak English and are certainly not used to a lady with a car full of kids being on the job site and took about 20 minutes to find a place that takes about 45 seconds to reach from the gate.  It was so amazing.  Lulu kept asking if we were lost and I was like, “yes we totally are lost” and she would say, “oh, no! Are we lost?”  Etc.

When we finally found the office, I got the kids out, unstrapped Lulu’s car seat (because Eli was bringing her home with him) and commenced wandering around the cluster of trailers that is Eli’s office.  Found his door and of course interrupted not one but two meetings, “oh hi there, guys, just here with my kids and a car seat the size of a German Shepard, were you trying to work?”  I spent a little time complaining about Eli’s directions to the office and then departed with Tommy.

We got in the car, and drove to the next party.  The next party was in a place called Happyland and the thing about that name is that it’s absolutely true.  Happyland makes children incredibly happy.  It has video games and rides and loud music and lots of flashing lights.  But for adults, I think it’s a bit like being inside a migraine.  It is spectacularly unhappy.  It is impossible to have conversations even though I met a lot of interesting parents there and very much liked the birthday boy’s family.  But try getting tips on visiting Beirut from a Lebanese mother when you’re inside a migraine.  It’s not possible.   (But as I said, kids love it and that’s of course the point of a child’s birthday party.)

Anyway, by the end I was exhausted and I am pretty sure my feet are swollen. 

Are you ready for the promise?  NO MORE THAN ONE BIRTHDAY PARTY PER DAY.  BAM.