Mom guilt

Wesley got me with "mom guilt" on Tuesday morning. Let me back up...school mornings are rough, to say the least. Wesley is not what I would call a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. I wake him up and he is pleasant AT FIRST. I sit on his bed and he gives me a hug and tells me good morning. So far, so good. We get up so he can go to the bathroom and then head downstairs. This is where it all starts to unravel...On school mornings, he has to go downstairs and eat breakfast almost immediately. On non-school mornings, he has time to play for a little bit, but the meltdown comes when I say its time for breakfast, usually because he doesn't want to eat (no surprise there).

So Tuesday morning, he climbs into his chair and starts sobbing and telling me how he just doesn't want to go to school. The usual crying is related to how he doesn't want to eat, he's not hungry, etc. Back to Tuesday - in my early morning mind, I start thinking that he is being bullied, how he must hate school, how mean I am for making him go to school, how hungry he must be all day at school. You get the picture. We made it through breakfast, and I honestly cannot remember how the eating went because the whole time I am thinking of all the things of which I might be guilty.

I drive him to school (still thinking of all the ways I am mean by making him go to school at all) and as soon as we put his lunch in his cubby, he tells me how excited he is to be at school. He starts dancing around and giggling. SERIOUSLY?? I spent the last 45 minutes feeling like a horrible human being and mother and all it was all part of the master plan of a three year-old. Oh, how easily I am now manipulated.

The good news though is he told me the names of his friends at school..."Zach Brown, Marilee and Kevin." Awfully specific names, but I couldn't find those names on any of the cubbies in his room at school after a cursory glance. Maybe he has made them up? More work of the mind of a three year-old? Kinda like his "dogs" that he drags around the yard. The "dogs" are actually two bungee cords, both named "Odio," according to Wesley. More on that later with pictures to attempt to explain.

hand, foot & mouth disease has hit our home

Oh yes, you read that right. The good news (at least for Wesley) is that it's Damon that has caught this wonderful viral infection. Now for me, it wouldn't matter who in this house caught it, I'm still the one paying for it. If I was sick, then I still have to take care of Damon and Wesley. If Wesley caught it, I would be the one taking care of him. I'm sure Damon would help, but let's be honest I would be the one taking care of Wes. And since it is Damon that caught it, I have to take care of him while trying to ensure that I don't catch it, and more importantly, that Wesley doesn't catch it.

Now...I don't know that I heard of this "disease" before about two months ago. I strictly attribute that to the fact that I am not an elementary school teacher. Our friend's son came down with HFMD a couple months ago, and she had to make the call warning me that her son had it and we had all hung out just the night before. And tonight, I had to be the one to make the dreaded call to a few friends. I won't lie to you, it was a bit embarassing, but we did make fun of Damon saying that it's because he drank too much pool water. If that were the truth, Wesley would be the one who is so ill!! (Side note: I think that kid drank at least a gallon of water at the pool this morning. For the life of me, I don't get it.)

Don't be confused - Damon doesn't have "foot and mouth" or the more appropriate titled "hoof and mouth," which is the swine disease. According to the Center for Disease Control, animals don't get the human disease and humans don't get the animal disease. Sure hope the CDC is right...Damon has been to several county fairs recently. And if I end up with a pig disease, he will NEVER live it down!!

So YAY - I am working tomorrow, Wesley is going to school, and we are getting out of this germ-infested house!!

One more thing...I sure hope Tommy Johnagin wins "Last Comic Standing." He is hilarious!!

Before I start this post, I would just like to say...GO BENGALS!! As a serious football fan (especially the Cincinnati Bengals and the Ohio State Buckeyes), today officially marks my favorite season of the year!  I love to spend Sunday afternoons napping and watching football. I'm excited just thinking about it.

Why is that I write these whitty blog posts in my head, then when I actually sit down to write, I have nothing to say? Since I can't come up with much to say, I'll just post a few pictures for your enjoyment.

"washing" his foot in the hose adding water to the pool

swimming by himself (with a vest, of course)

I'm a little confused why his body is curved like that...

Wes LOVES jumping in and going under!

This was before Wes would swim by himself. If Damon had tried to pry Wesley's arms off, Wes would have screamed and cried. He's come a long way in the last two weeks.

This picture was before Wes figured out that he didn't have to jump into our arms

BIG splash for such a small guy!!

Does he love swimming or what?

As you can see, we've been spending a lot of time at our local pool. I hate to think that it's going to be closed for winter in just a few weeks!