Listing

1. I really am sort of listing. I am really really tired, although less so now than yesterday. This is what I did yesterday:

7:00: Woke up, got kids up and dressed and breakfasted.

8:00: Loaded Iyyar and Avtalyon into stroller and took Barak to bus stop. Put Barak on bus.

8:00-9:00: Went to bank, bakery, produce store, and fish store for Shabbos supplies, with Avtalyon and Iyyar in tow.

9:00: Dropped Iyyar off at playgroup.

9:15: Asnat came and took Avtalyon outside to play.

9:45: Heard huge screams from outside and found Avtalyon being carried in by Asnat, with blood pouring out of his mouth. Am told that he has smacked his face on stair while going up steps; examine tooth-shaped gash inside upper lip.

10:15: Took Avtalyon to doctor for conveniently timed 18-month checkup, and also to get his mouth looked at. Walked just over a mile to get there. Forget to bring paper order for my 1-hour glucose test, which I was going to do at the same time and is now about two weeks overdue.

10:45: Avtalyon's mouth pronounced close, but no stitches. The doctor thought about it for a little bit before deciding he'd be OK without. Also discussed issue of jaundice with doctor. More on this later. Got Avtalyon's polio shot #4, bringing him up to date on all immunizations.

11:30: Went to supermarket next to pediatrician to buy ice cream sandwiches, so that Iyyar's incredibly expensive dairy- and soy-free coconut milk ice cream sandwiches would not be the only ice cream sandwiches in the house when ice cream is to be distributed. His sandwiches are almost $1/each, and they are small. I bought 12 normal-sized ice cream sandwiches for $2.99. Avtalyon ate one of them on the way home, making a spectacular mess, but given his morning I felt he deserved it. Walked home, another mile and change.

12:30: Picked up Iyyar and went home.

1:00: Cleaned up Avtalyon and put him down for a nap. Spent next hour frantically cooking and cleaning. Made zucchini soup, salmon teriyaki, boiled potatoes for potato salad. Failed to fold laundry.

2:00: Went to meet Barak at bus stop. Bus did not stop at correct corner and ergo Barak did not get off; chased bus, screaming, at a full sprint for two full city blocks. (While in seventh month.) Caught bus and retrieved sobbing kindergartner. Gave bus driver piece of mind. More on this later, too.

2:15: Returned home with somewhat consoled but still traumatized kindergartner, turning him over to care of husband, who has promised to bathe children and mop kitchen floor. Hear Avtalyon waking up from nap. Leave for bus stop.

2:30: Get on bus to go to Target/supermarket #2. Poor timing, I know, but we were out of EVERYTHING.

2:45. Go to supermarket #2 for soy yogurts and the handful of other items only available at supermarket #2. Walk over to Target, buy a Diet Coke, and sit in the cafe for about twenty minutes feeling leg muscles seize.

2:45-3:30: Buy $130 worth of Target stuff: detergent, cereal, wipes, and other essential miscellany, including new sneakers for Avtalyon and Iyyar, which miraculously are available in the correct sizes in the same brand they already have. Knit two rows of glove cuff, then take cab home.

3:45: Walk into house to be mobbed by children demanding grapes. Appease children and start cooking IBS-friendly imitation of chicken marsala. Pleased to see that children have in fact been bathed and floor is mobbed. Praise husband fulsomely. Try sneakers on children and discover that despite being the correct sizes and the same brand of sneaker they just outgrew, new sneakers do not fit and will have to be returned.

4:oo-6:30: Finish chicken, rice and potato salad while appeasing children further. Wash dishes and floor again. Point out Shabbos yogurts and instruct older two children to pick up living room and bedroom of toys. Considering their ages, they do this pretty well--it takes less time than doing it myself, which is definitely a milestone. Reward said children with Shabbos yogurts. Feed Iyyar Iyyar-friendly piece of chicken, feed Barak and Avtalyon red peppers and cucumbers and cheese (on different tables). Eat snack-sized Mounds bar while nobody is watching. Slip one to Barak while nobody is watching with praise for fabulous cleaning job.

6:30: Realize what time it is and shriek in horror. Kitchen is clean but I have not showered. Shower at the speed of light, get dressed, and free husband from baby-monitoring duty. Light candles. Read Danny and the Dinosaur for the nth time and put children to bed.

7:00: Sit down in kitchen, fully resolved to never move again.

7:02: Two children come trickling out of room for potty/book runs and child #3 starts singing "boop! boop!" in his crib.

7:03: Get up, change diaper, and begin wrangling children back into bed. Meet with resistance. Offer resistance of my own. Begin World War III. Prevail.

8:00: Sit down again.

8:01. Husband comes home from maariv. Serve and eat dinner. It is yummy.

9:00: Husband's chavrusa comes over to walk with husband to oneg. Both leave at around 9:30. I clean up kitchen and silently pray that this is not the night that my neighbor goes into labor and I go over there to be with her kids while she and husband are at the hospital. Prayers are answered in the affirmative.

9:45: Collapse into bed, sweaty and exhausted.

12:00 AM: Wake up realizing that husband is not home and really really should be by now. Begin to panic in earnest at around 12:30 am. Husband comes home at 12:45. I am wide awake by now, in full neurotic terror mode and very very itchy (more on this later, too). He had no idea what time it was and apologizes profusely. Forgive husband. Go back to bed but can't sleep. Am still awake at around 3.

6:30 AM: Realize that Barak is standing next to my bed and probably has been for a while. Tell Barak through pillow that he can go into my office and get his little Lego and take it into the kitchen to play. Barak vanishes instantly and I get another hour and a half of near-sleep, during which I completely ignore sounds of chaos from throughout apartment, choosing to allow husband this vital bonding time.

8:00 AM. Drag self out of bed. Stumble into kitchen. Barak wants to know if we can go play.

"Where do you want to go?"

"To the Shapiros' house."

"Now?!"

"Can we?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm too tired."

"WHY?!"

Items 2, 3, and 4 TK. I'm too tired for those, too.