“The Alarm went off and Mom has lost her mind”

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

Have you ever come across a meme online that has you convinced that the creator must be following you, or spying on you – because obviously this meme was created just for you?

Today my friend, Audrey shared this meme on Facebook, I don’t know where it originated but I laughed out loud because this just happened to me.

Wait….Wait…. What Day is it?

First, a few back story notes that I have to make before telling the story:

As a rule, I don’t get very much sleep on Sunday nights. No matter what I do, the utter excitement of having to go to work the next day keeps me awake… This also happens to a few co-workers – so it’s become somewhat of a “thing” on Monday morning to discuss who had the least amount of sleep the night before. Usually *Cracker wins the contest, but I believe this week, I was the winner. Unfortunately, there is no prize for winning.

By the time I got home from work Monday evening, I felt like I could fall asleep standing up. I do have to add that historically I am not a “good sleeper”, but once I am out, I AM OUT!

Another thing I have to mention is that DC has refused to sleep in his room at night since Christmas Eve. Once he gets nervous about a storm or a cloud because that could mean a storm or if the power should go out for a minute, or a truck going by because it sounds like thunder….. (you get the picture)….that’s it. He’s on the couch! I just can’t wait for the 4th of July fireworks that usually start going off about now. This also means I must sleep on the couch. We have a sectional so he sleeps on the chaise lounge end and I sleep on the other side.

Coincidently I made this meme just a few days ago due to a very quick power outage.

So back to Monday.

By 6:00 pm I knew if I didn’t take a quick nap I would never make it until DC went to bed. I told DC I was, to use his words, “going to get some rest”. He was sitting on the couch watching YouTube videos on his phone. I laid down in my spot. I even set the alarm because I didn’t want to sleep too long. In the meantime, DC went upstairs to put his pajamas on and gather his pillow, sheet and blankets. When he puts his pajamas on that early it is his way of telling me that he doesn’t want to go anywhere else that day. He’s done. I was done too, so he did not have to worry about that. I must have been really over the top tired and really ‘out like a light’, as they say, because I really don’t even remember if it was the alarm that woke me up or not….

but…..

I woke up, looked at the clock – it was 8:00! Panicked, I jumped up, and yelled “Oh my God!”. Of course DC has no idea why I’m yelling “Oh My God!”, so he’s just looking at me, confused.

Now this was not your typical “wake up on a Saturday thinking you are late for work and you figure it out within a few seconds” kind of panic. This was a full on “I can’t figure out what is going on” kind of panic.

I ran to the door thinking that DC’s transportation to work would for some reason still be sitting in the driveway a half hour after they usually arrive. The car wasn’t there. I still couldn’t figure out what was going on. If they arrived to pick him up and no one came out, they would first beep the horn and then have dispatch call on the phone. How did I not hear the phone? How did I not hear the horn beep? Why didn’t DC wake me up? He hates the sound of my alarm, he hates the sound of the phone. Why wasn’t there a message or a missed call showing on the house phone or my cell?
I turned from the door and yelled to DC – who was right where he would have been in the morning, “What day is it?” – DC answered “Monday”. I yelled back “No! It’s Tuesday!” (good going, let’s just totally confuse him).

If there was ever a look that said “This woman has lost her mind”, DC had it! He would never have the words to say that or really understand what loosing one’s mind means, but he had that look.
I went back to the door to stare at the empty driveway. I looked at the clock again, thinking I had just misread it being half asleep and panicked, but no, it still said 8:00. DC is still looking at me as if to say “What is wrong with this woman?”

At this point I am even starting to second guess what time his transportation comes in the morning, as if I would forget that or get it wrong, but I was half asleep, so who knows. I mean at the time I didn’t think I’d taken a nap and slept through the night, I may have been able to figure it all out sooner if I thought that but I didn’t even remember taking a nap! I just thought it was a regular morning and I had over slept!

Now I am trying to figure out what to do. Should I drive DC to work? If I did that I would be hours late for work myself. Should I just call him in sick and take him to work with me? Fortunately before I made the call and left a message at his job, I happened to look over at the TV….

Channel “Two-Five” – in DC-speak, TNT to the rest of us, was on. I’ve probably mentioned more than once that TNT is our default channel. DC always likes it on, even if he’s not watching. He likes to watch Smallville also known in our house as “Somebody Save Me” in the morning (not his first choice of shows, but they took Angel out of their line-up – Boo!). I noticed that a show was on that usually only plays at night – I think it was Major Crimes. It took a second but I finally remembered that I had taken a nap and it was 8:00 at night and it was still Monday, just as DC told me while I insisted it was Tuesday.

Now I had to make a joke out of the whole thing because he was still looking at me like I had really lost my mind. “Ha Ha, DC! Mom was confused! You were right, it is Monday! Mom made a mistake, I must have been very tired!”

He laughed. I don’t know if he really understood how funny it was, all that he knew was that Mom made a mistake, and he always thinks that is funny!

Looking back though –
Did I notice that I still had my work clothes on? – No
Did I notice it was 8:00 pm when I checked my phone for missed calls? – No
Did it occur to me that DC would never be sitting quietly at 8:00 in the morning? – No

So the conclusion I have come to is –

NAPS……

BAD, Very BAD!

Seafood anyone?

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

Just a quick post just because I am so proud of my boy. I have told him so many times since yesterday that DC finally said, “Mom, write story”.
I don’t know if he asked me to ‘write story’ because he is proud of himself too or that he just wants me to stop telling him every 5 minutes, but either way, his wish is my command.

DC and his dad gave me a gift certificate for Mother’s Day for a seafood restaurant. The restaurant is very popular I am told. I had never been there, but DC has been there with his Dad and a couple of other times on field trips with an organization where he participates in many of their activities.

The restaurant is about an hour away, so we decided to make a day if it.
For a kid that loves to go ‘out to eat’ almost as much as he loves going to the bookstore, he didn’t seem all that excited when we finally arrived. Also, for a kid who remembers EVERYTHING, he didn’t seem to recognize it and told me more than once in the parking lot that he did not want to go there (I think he was a little bit out of sorts to begin with yesterday).

Once inside, he saw that they had cheeseburgers on the menu and he also seemed to now recognize the place so he stopped telling me he didn’t want to stay there. DC’s standard order anywhere we go is: wings, cheeseburger, french fries and coke. I could see they did not have wings on the menu so I was surprised when he ordered “fried chicken” with his cheeseburger. I did not see that on the menu either and tried to explain this to DC. He was getting upset and luckily the girl at the counter stepped in and corrected me and said that, yes they do have fried chicken and we CAN order one piece as a side dish/ appetizer. I should have known that he of course, would remember what he had when he was there before.

– SAVED by the counter girl –

I told DC that he was correct and that Mom was wrong, which just put him in a better mood, because he LOVES when I tell him I am wrong. 🙂

We took a seat and not too long after, our food was ready. In the booth behind DC was a family; parents and three young children. In the seat directly behind DC’s head was the mother and two of the children, they looked to be about 3 years old. The two children were on the inside of the booth climbing all over the place and screaming, two inches from DC’s head. At first I didn’t pay much attention because there are times that noise really bothers him and other times he seems oblivious to it. This seemed to be one of the oblivious times, until all of a sudden, he looked at me, lifted his fists straight up next to his head, clenched his teeth and just shook! There are many times when I don’t immediately know what is wrong, but this time it was apparent.

I told him that I understood what was bothering him and told him that it might be better for him if we just moved his food to my side of the table and sit with me. First he refused, because he was all situated where he was, but after thinking about it for only another second, he agreed. He moved over to my side of the table, he looked at me, put his hand to his forehead, pretended to wipe it and said “Phew!”

It was a simple fix, but I was so proud of him for keeping himself under control. Yes, he shook his fists and clenched his teeth, but he did not make a sound, he did not yell, he did not lose control. He found his own way to let me know he was having a problem and he let me help him to correct it. I’m sure the people in the booth didn’t even know anything was happening. I praised him over and over again for keeping himself in control and letting Mom know there was something wrong and letting me help him.

I also took it as an opportunity to explain to him that when he sometimes gets loud in a restaurant that this might be how the other people feel; this is why I always ask him to try to keep his voice down. I’m really not sure if he understood the connection, but I have to try to make it, when the opportunity presents itself.

He went on to enjoy his fried chicken, cheeseburger, fries and coke in the seafood restaurant without incident and in a much better mood for shopping and bookstore visits to come later.