Our Weekend? Don't Ask.

Unsure

I took Friday afternoon off because I needed to use or lose some vacation before the end of the year. I ran a few errands, finished the last tiny bit of Christmas shopping, and came home to finish most of the wrapping. I was feeling pretty good about our holiday readiness and was looking forward to a relatively quiet and fun weekend. BIG. MISTAKE.

As Mike and I drove to pick up the kids, I mentioned to him that lice was going around school and Q had alarmed me by scratching her head like crazy in the morning. He assured me that I was doing my usual overreaction. When we got home, I asked him to check her head - just to make me feel better. He did. I was right. Lice. And I definitely did NOT feel better. I immediately called up the Ladibugs clinic to see if we could get in. Because it was already 5:30 at night, they were setting up appointments for Saturday morning. I made one of those. And then sent Mike out to get an over-the-counter treatment so we could at least do something that night.

Crazy hair

While he was gone, Bugs tripped in the dining room, sending markers flying to the far corners of the house, and ripping her big toenail in half. While I was trying to trim her nail to a point where it wouldn't hurt her anymore, I heard a huge crash in the kitchen. Because Declan had fallen off the counter. And then I understood how the universe was going to play the weekend.

We got treatment in Q's hair and were just putting plates in front of people when my phone rang. It was the lice clinic. They had a no show and if we were willing to leave in the next 10 minutes, they would squeeze us in that night. Executive decision ... off we went. Turns out everyone had lice to some degree. Q's was the worst. Mike had one nit total. And Dec, Fiona, and I were all extremely mild cases. We opted to do the obscenely expensive heat treatment on all three female heads. Which meant we left Ladibugs at 9:17 Friday night. In case you don't remember, our people do not stay up that late. But these kids. They were troopers and exceeded all expectations for behavior.

Coping

Family up north who will see us in a few short days and who are considering what your casual cancellation excuse will be to not see us because of the aforementioned lice situation ... fear not. The reason we paid an obscene amount of money (and it really really was) is because the treatment kills the bugs AND the nits immediately. Like it's done. Game over, lice. And we go back for a "complementary" recheck before we head north this weekend. So you can hug us with full confidence that our heads are free and clear. Casually cancel your casual cancellation!

So ... we got home, had to strip the kids' beds, vacuum mattresses, treat Dec's hair, feed them something because they only got a few bites of their dinner. And eventually put them to bed around 10:30. OMG. Then Mike and I ran around like crazy people, putting most of our worldly possessions in garbage bags on the deck (to freeze treat), vacuuming, covering couches with sheets, treating Mike's hair, etc. Thank the heavens that the kids slept until after 8:00 Saturday morning!

Winter Wonderland

We spent Saturday doing more laundry than I ever want to do in a single day ever again. We also took all three kids to the dentist, where, again, they were so well behaved! We made some Christmas cookies and did our best to not let the unexpected curveball ruin the weekend. Overall, we did well with that goal. The universe, however, didn't let up. While I was combing out Mike's hair on Saturday, Dec went running by, saying "mama, I have to poop." Followed shortly by "mama, I didn't make it." He also cried so hard while I was combing out his hair that he made himself puke. And then had another accident on Sunday morning. We had a discussion about not creating more laundry for mommy!

By dinnertime, we were done. So we went out for Mexican food. The kids and I coped with chips and salsa and Mike and I coped with a giant margarita. Q really enjoyed the chips and salsa and almost took other peoples' hands off if they were in her way for the salsa bowl. Then we made our annual trip to Winter Wonderland. Which we enjoyed just slightly less than usual in our fall fleece coats, no hats, and no mittens (all the winter gear was still in quarantine).

Don't mind us. Just out in
December with no hats ...

We took the sheets off the couches today and all rejoiced at the return of the pillows and throw blankets. I'd say we didn't realize how much we loved them until they were gone. But we did. We knew we loved our pillows and blankets. It was a long few days without them.

The weekend was not what we had planned. But we had fun. We laughed uncontrollably at Mike needing to pee after Winter Wonderland. We made cookies. We ate our weight in salsa. We watched The Polar Express. We survived. And we took a leap of faith on Monday morning and put hats back on our heads.