Day Two: I Only Had One Drink...

The girls are out of school so it's me plus 3 kids. Alright, so it ain't 8, but still, I consider it a great achievement that no one has run of out the house with their hands waving in the air like a mad man screaming, "she's really lost it this time!" Of course, the biggest potential culprit of such lunatic behavior would be me, but I have remained sane and sober--actually, that is the great achievement of the day.

In fact, not to toot my own horn, but yesterday, the girls and I made this together:


The hardest part of this project was keeping Sam from eating all the candy. I had to keep giving him other candy or white trash sugary snacks to keep him at bay (ehem...not that I actually have Twinkies or Ding-dongs in my pantry...)

Today, we spent the day at Giggles N Hugs. My friend chose a booth and she situated herself and her kid in a way that I had to have my kids sit in a row on one side and me on the other. My darling little angels were all sitting quietly and eating. My friend with her one kid was extremely impressed. "They're so good!" I smiled smugly and replied, "They ARE good. What can I say? I've trained them well." I couldn't help but feel like just maybe, I have it all figured out.

As we left the kiddie play area, Sam's didn't want to go. So I was trying to carry him in one arm, and three jackets and my purse in the other. I can only carry a screaming, squirming Sam for about 50 feet before he breaks free from under my arm (I usually carry him under my arm like I hold an evening clutch, though considerably less elegantly). After he breaks free, then I usually have to drag him by his arm. If people are around, I pretend to get him to stand up so it doesn't look too abusive. We got to the valet area and I just dropped him and let him roll around on the asphalt. I usually wait for the inevitable raised eyebrow from a nearby adult who could potentially call child protection services on me before I pretend to care.

Tonight, I wanted to go to Lawry's. Last year, we went and it was a wonderful experience. The kids were all so well behaved so the thought crossed my mind to make it a family tradition for Christmas. More logical parents would think twice about such an occasion considering the meltdown that I had just experienced at the other restaurant. But nope, the chance the eat at the happiest place on earth was just too enticing for me. I thought I would tempt fate.

Luckily we got seated right away but when we got to our table, I realized that it could not accommodate a high chair (i.e. Sam would not be strapped down). Again, I should have known better but the thought of waiting for a better table was unfathomable. Now, I wasn't just tempting fate, I was playing chicken on fate's high speed freeway.

A five inch smear of mashed potatoes on my dry clean only dress, and a dinner (for Sam) that consisted only of chips and hot fudge sundae later, we made it out alive. The girls were so well behaved. They were trying to choose between "O Holy Night" and the Chipmunk Christmas song for the carolers to sing, but decided to choose the former after finding out it was my favorite song.

Multiply that chip that Sam's holding by 20 and throw in some hot fudge sundae and there you will have Sam's dinner tonight at a prime rib restaurant.

Despite all the chaos (and a mischievous caroler putting his hat on my head), I was happy--prime rib, wine, and Christmas cheer. And, I got to wear my boots! What more can a girl ask for?

Merry Christmas!