This Weather Can . . .

Suck It!!

Seriously . . . Mother Nature is going to get a serious talking to if she doesn't shape up . . . and quick. I have a real hard time dealing with the fact that I spend all week in a small cubicle with scarcely a window in sight - meanwhile, outside the sun is shining . . . the sky is blue . . . it's easily in the 60's. Then comes the weekend and BAM . . . the sun disappears, the temperature plummets and the winds start to blow. That is wrong . . . on so many levels.

In the meantime, today was another soccer game that those poor kids spent freezing. I swear ever since Kadin has started soccer, we have spent every Saturday huddled under a blanket freezing watching him. I'm forced to bribe poor Bella with snacks because the minute I say the word "soccer" she thinks of her toes going numb and shivering . . . just wrong. So today is easily the coldest it's been since soccer began. I had three layers of clothes on Kadin including his winter hat and mittens and I had to drag out the winter coat for Bella . . . so wrong.

So I was trying to get the kids situated in the car, as it always seems I am taking everything but the kitchen sink with me whenever we go anywhere, and I struggled to get Bella buckled into her car seat. Let me just put a disclaimer out there before I proceed - I know car seats are there to keep my children safe when riding in the car . . . and I realize how important they are and would never take them anywhere without making sure they were securely fastened and safe. Until today . . .

So we obviously had already changed the tightness of Bella's car seat straps when - silly us - we actually thought spring was here and she wouldn't need her heavy winter coat anymore. So I was trying to shove her huge jacket under these straps that clearly were not loose enough to fit all of her under them. Then I remembered . . . oh yeah - there is a release that you can pull to get more slack out of the straps! Yup - just pull on that release, pull the straps and ta dah . . . except they don't work!!!! I pulled, pushed, wiggled, smacked . . . said a few naughty words under my breathe and nothing. Seriously . . . who designed these car seats?? Did they really think we would have the time to take the seat in & out of the car every time we wanted to change the stinking straps? Is it really necessary to need super-human strength to be able to move those damn things?!? And don't even get me started about getting the seats correctly in the car in the first place . . . all parents are doomed to fail.

So what did I do? No, I did not drive away without strapping Bella in her seat . . . what kind of mother do you think I am? I unzipped her coat and somehow got the straps around her body instead of the coat.

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So, the kids are outside playing with the neighbors. As I was picking up the table from lunch, I looked out to see Phillip standing by the bushes that separate our yard from his. He was watching the kids playing in our yard . . . knowing full well that he couldn't join them because as Kadin says "he is grounded from our yard" - after the gum smearing incident. I feel a bit guilty about the pleasure I felt inside as I watched him from the window . . . just standing there . . . wishing he could come over.

At lunch today Kadin said to me "Mom, maybe you could unground Phillip from our yard now." You know, he's probably right . . . I really should think about letting Phillip come over again . . . after all he is Kadin's friend . . . . . . . . . . . . . aaahhh . . . nope, it's just too nice not having that little demon around.