I have to applaud stay at home moms

Today was an initiation into the life of a Professional Mom. The day began at 0430 am when Jared woke with a tummy ache. After some milk, french toast sticks, a dose of pepto, a trip to the potty and an episode of Barney he is feeling better but I have a splitting headache, and would love to fall back to sleep for another hour. But it's time to prepare a lunch, finish homework and check on Cody who came home at midnight last night from having emergency surgery on his throat. He is doing much better but the doc recommends that his wisdom teeth be removed...he will be out of school for two weeks. Spend some time with hubby who braved the thunderstorm and rain late in the night to take Cody to the doctor an hour away since we have no decent medical facility in our military community (We live 2 min from a German hospital but can only use this facility in a dire emergency)Then is time to take Jared to kindergarten, gather together all books and school parafinalia, locate shoes etc. pull out the winter jackets since it has turned winter in Germany, and head out. Maneuver between the mulitude of minivans in the parking lot and squeeze in between two - gosh I don't miss the minivan a bit right about now! Hurry Jared inside and watch him put away all his things in their proper areas without even having to be told a dozen times where they go (now why can't he do that at home?)
Head home to play with baby, she is in a very good mood after a full nights sleep (didn't wake up until 0730 and was asleep by 7:30 pm) Go to MOPS with my friend Heather (a 2 hr spill your guts session with lots of much younger super moms and their screaming babies - I don't spill my guts out loud so this was awkward for me) Came home, had lunch (or rather fed baby my lunch)and then got ready to pick Jared up from school, took Jaiden to a doctor's appt (went all the way to the other base (15 miles) only to find out that the appt was at Bitburg)luckily I was way early so we make it to the other side in time to find the way to the reception desk blocked by a little girl sprawled out on the floor screaming in pain because she had thrown herself on the floor and dislocated her elbow (her parent's were like "oh no worries she's done this before" well could she have her little self abusive tantrum somewhere other than the front desk of Pediatrics? Gosh! So Jared watches his sis out in the hallway while I scoot past the little girl and check in...amist her screams...not so much of pain but of I want my Mommy to pay attention to me. While the whole entire clinic has her attention the Mom is trying not to play into her little overblown drama bit while still being concerned about the elbow which is grossly disfigured. We get all checked in and directed to the quiet zone...the waiting area and see the little girl come out of the docs office with her dad in tow - perfectly fine and her dad says "you ready to go to ballet class? and she says "uh huh" oh my gosh! What the heck did we just witness? I guess throwing her arm out is a normal everyday occurance. I just shake my head and wonder sometimes. It's finally Jaiden's turn and we get to go do the strip and weigh the naked baby routine in a much too cold room. This is going to work wonders on the cold Jaiden has had since the day we met her. I ask the doc about it and all he says is "oh just keep her on the stuff you're already giving her" like dude - it's freakin not workin! He doesn't seem to hear me - maybe I just imagined saying that. Her lungs sound fine he says "Never mind the rumbling in her chest" I reply - "oh yeah that just sounds like she's a bit congested" the doc replies I'd like to say "Where'd you get your certification - the back of a band aids box?" I refrain and politely ask "is there anything you can give or recommend for that?" "No just give her some Robotussin" he says After a while we are finally done and given a clear bill of health - have to get blood drawn at the lab to make sure she doesn't have Hepatitis and take some x-rays to make sure she doesn't have typhoid disease but gosh golly we've got ourselves a healthy Asian baby. Yes, it felt a bit like we were being run through the gammet for bringing a foreigner into our world. It was oh such a bit annoying. It gave me a short burst of perverse pleasure when Jared jacked up his chair on the way out :)

*By the way - what is a simplified answer to a 5 year olds question of what the stirrups are used for on an examining table? I think Jared examined every moving object in the examination room today and that was one item that just fascinated him. I told him people put their feet in the stirrups for the exam and he said "so the doctor could examine their FEET?" Uh, not exactly sweetie...we'll talk about that another time.

On to the lab, where we had blood taken - it came from Jaiden but you could have said we all felt the pain. She was doing great and they were poking and prodding her to find that tiny itty bitty vein but when they poked her and just held her arm down for about 20 min she'd had enough and it was all the two techs and I could do to keep her in place. It took forver to fill that massive tube and I thought they were about to drain her but they finally stopped and said they would ration what they had to get the tests done that they needed.

Then to X-rays - she smiled pretty for the camera. Guess she didn't realize it was a photo of her insides but I enjoyed it :) Jared sat nicely out in the waiting room...after trying to dance with the skeleton on display.

Finally we were done!!! We celebrated with McDonalds cheeseburgers and strawberry shakes! Num Num! Jaiden passed her first home medical exam with flying colors in the good attitude department and Jared won the best door opener award for helping Mommy to get around carring Jaiden on one hip and a baby carrier on the other...for some reason when the baby is in those contraptions they weigh 10x their weight! So it was just easier to carry one on each side.

Whew! It's been an exhausting day - oh and I forgot to mention that after I'd gotten the kiddos bathed and ready for bed, had given Jaiden her bottle and then picked her up to burp her and she unloaded on me, herself and Jared's playmat in his room...so it was back to square one - bathe, lotion, new jammies, bottle etc...for us both.

So I totally respect anyone that can take on the task on being a Professional Mom. It has got to be the toughest most grueling job on the entire planet - I am a Working Mom so I wear dual hats but I think my day is not nearly as draining as that of a full time Mom. It's also the most wonderful job I've ever had and I am gong to miss this so much when I have to go back to work next week - It's been such an extrordinary time to share with my children the joys and concerns of their days. I've so enjoyed just being there when they wake, being there when they head off to school, being there when they need me, being there when they don't and just watching them play, being there in the early afternoon before we all all too drained to think straight, being there to enjoy an afternoon snack, being there to enjoy a nice dinner together, being there to tuck them in to bed each night and not rush through it so that I can get to bed as soon as they are asleep, being able to blog about these moments...aaaaah it is a joyful time indeed.