Challenges

Reading challenge: 18% done. Year: 20% done. Still working on catching up.

Exercise challenge: 10 minutes/1.8 miles on bike yesterday. None today. Ate wings today. Feeling tubby and sad about feeling tubby. My clothes are shrinking and my scale tells vicious lies. Motivated to use the bike right now but it is late and the bike makes squeaky noises and the kids are asleep in the next room. Will work out tomorrow when I get home from work. I mean it!

Parenting challenge: Thomas had the kids all weekend over here and he was running a pretty horrific fever the entire time, which made him weak as a kitten and snowed out for the entirety of the weekend. W. was still on the tail end of his bug, and M. may or may not be coming down with one too. I mediated many disputes between twins. I fixed snacks a few times and cuddled with them while they watched netflix. I let them play with the Legos in my Creationary game and tried not to be uptight as I watched the pieces scatter everywhere several times. I procured and distributed about 12-15 glasses of water for assorted Burbach males throughout the weekend. I fetched 6 cups of tea and 3 doses of Tylenol. I took about 9 or so temperatures. I'll admit that I fled a few times - once to go to the laundromat, once to play a few card games with CJ, and again tonight to go to my Pathfinder game.

I still think I suck at stepmomming, but I did manage not to raise my voice. I wasn't even mean or anything... except for when I turned off the Wii mid-game in response to prolonged bargaining attempts after I warned that the terms for bedtime were non-negotiable. Then I was treated to a chorus of that sound that kids make that is not quite full-on crying... it's like a more sustainable form of "lite" crying that kids do when they think they'll be at it for a while and want to conserve energy to get through the long haul. It began to sound harmonic and almost soothing after a few minutes, like monks chanting. I helped them get their jammies on while they wound down.

Honestly though, the boys did really well over a tough weekend. They just saw their Grandma die in the hospital on Friday night. Then they spent a weekend watching their Dad shivering under a blanket, glassy-eyed and weak, and running a 103 temp. In their little 4 year old brains they're doing the math and wondering if Daddy is going to die. Considering that, the boys were saints.