Got the Keys? Stories of How I Have Lost My Mind

This past weekend I locked me and the kids out of the house. For five hours.

Thank goodness we live in the City and we could walk where we needed. I was packing up for a trip to the pool at our park, planning to hit up the dollar store beforehand to grab toys, already had the water bottle filled with ice cubes and some fruit strips for snack set in the bag. I remembered looking at the keys and thinking I needed to grab them and throw them in the bag. We walk out the front door and Kieran asks, "Got the keys?"

And I cringe. Because I know in that moment, I do not. Thankfully, I had my cell phone. Ken was at the local Kendo tournament in Annapolis so I left him a voicemail and texted him to be sure I used all methods of communication. Then, I just headed out. We did what we had planned to do. Dollar store? Check. Two and a half hours of pool time? Check. Hour and a half of playground time? Check.

Stressed mom? Check.

Anyway, it wasn't bad at all, kids were troopers and we went to Red Robin for dinner (I know, I know the kitchen was done but we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet). We had a good day and no harm, no foul.

But, poor Kieran. This had happened just a few weeks before. Ken was working and I took the kids out to the JCC in Owings Mills - about a half-hour away to hang at the pool. We were there for about four hours when I knew it was time to pack it up and head home. We get changed into our clothes and I pat my pockets down for my house keys. I have the car key, no problem. it's the house key that's missing. We spend the next 30 minutes looking for the keys. No joy. Kieran's upset but I let him know it's not a big deal, even if I've been freaking out about it, mostly it's just an inconvenience, and we'll be able to get new keys. We get to the car, I sit down in the drivers seat, exhausted.

Only to realize I'm sitting on the keys. Yep, spend 30 minutes looking for keys that were in my back pocket.

On the happier side of things, we've got a great Father's Day planned (an Orioles game) next weekend and Amelia's party the weekend after that (just a little picnic in the park). Looking forward to the next few months with a new kitchen, hopefully produce from our garden and just generally having fun in the sun.

Disarray

I feel as though our life has been in complete disarray for a long period of time. It began with needing to replace our washer and dryer. Our laundry room is on the 3rd floor of our house, and they originally got our units in via a crane. Not gonna do that again. So, we had to go with a smaller unit and busted up our stairs to get the old units out.

Then, when we finally got a new unit in, we found a pipe driping in our kitchen. Repaired but the wall (interior) looked really bad and needed to come down. Honestly our entire kitchen needed a revamp. So, we bit the bullet and did it. We got away as cheaply as we could while still investing in quality. Off-the-shelf cabinetry, lower-cost granite countertops, scratch-n-dent appliances. But the bottom line was that we had no kitchen for the past month and that we lived with LOTS of things sitting in our living room, no space to eat in the house, eating out and basically living with too much stuff everywhere.

Now, the kitchen is nearly complete, my many thanks to my mom for helping us do this. Countertops are in, everything is hooked up and working (mostly) and we have just a few more minor items to attend. Unfortunately, as he hooked up our sink and dishwasher, our plumber noticed that the pipes under our house are OLD as in, probably from the 50s or earlier, old. Need replacing within 6 months. That's gas and water lines. Oy. Joys of homeownership, right?

The kids have been amazing troopers during this, but I know it's been a long time when Kieran asks "when are we going to stop going out to eat?". We were able to have our first 'meal' in the kitchen last night - pasta. It wasn't much, but it made me ridiculously happy to not have to eat someone else's cooking (besides Ken's) for once.

So, kiddos update....

Mia has hit the really terrible part of being (almost) 3. She has realized she is an independent being and can actively resist me. "No" is her favorite word and when she decides she dosen't want to go somewhere she'll run away from me, when I catch her she'll go boneless to make it harder for me to pick her up. *sigh* I know this, too, shall pass. But it can't be soon enough.

She's also hit the cuteness factor of giving hugs and kisses to show affection. She's great with the animals (still not 100% on Devin but she does give him kisses now and again) and continues to mimic her brother, to his consternation.

Kieran has been amazing these past few weeks. His doctor told us we could go at least a month between treatments and see how that goes, given he has repsonded so well so far. His doctor believes the issue to be with Executive Function (impulse control among other things) and that's a part of the brain we can exercise a bit. So, no medication, just keeping on what we're doing. I'm excited and sad for him at the end of this school year. His teacher this year has been AMAZING and I just hope he gets someone nearly as dedicated next year. I've been trying to figure out what to get her as an end-of-year gift and Kieran came home with a piece he did on her. It was a fill-in-the-blank to future students. What struck me (and Ken) as funny was at the end it said "When she gets made she...." and he wrote "Needs coffee." So, I guess I know what I'll give her, now!

Love to all, blog again soon. Hopefully with new kitchen and 1st grade 'graduation' photos.