Just one of them days

I took this photo from Google Images, which I'm not sure is legal, but I don't have a good picture of me in this type of pose. This is meant to convey FRUSTRATION.

It has been one of those days. A is sick with a fever, and hasn't been sleeping for several nights (hence, we haven't been sleeping). Today, she seems to have perked up quite a bit, and even started playing with her toys this morning. This was a bit of a change from yesteray when she clung to my pants screaming the second I put her down.

So, I thought, maybe we'd have an OK day? But no. No such luck. A decided this morning that she didn't want to nap, no matter what I did. I am very envious of you mothers out there who walk into your child's room, lie them down in their crib and leave. Your child will babble to themselves for a while before drifting off peacefully.

Now, we're the ones partly to blame for A's bad sleep habits. But I also think it has to do with the child's personality. And as you've all read in previous posts, A is not big on sleeping. I think she'd rather be gnawed on by an alligator than take a nap.

But back to my long-winded saga, full of self-pity (I can hear the saddest violins playing now). I didn't want a big fight for a nap, so decided to take her out in the stroller and walk down to the mall. She fell asleep quickly, but promptly woke up the second we got into the mall. How do they KNOW?? The second the sounds change, or the temperature, their little eyes pop open and they start screaming. So she slept 10 minutes this morning.

I assumed that she would be exhausted this afternoon and take a nice long nap. NOT SO. She put up a huge fight. I left her screaming in her room, but could only handle it for about 7 minutes. Those of you out there who have done "controlled crying," I applaud you, because I don't know if I could ever make it past 7 minutes. It's like a form of horrible torture.

So I gave up (or gave in, whichever way you want to look at it) and she didn't fall asleep until we went for a car ride to the vet to have Darcy's anal glands expressed. Yes, you read right. Our dog, the pug, needs to have her butt squeezed every month, or her anal glands fill up with fluid that smells like fish breath and she rubs her butt all over our carpet. It's lovely...so I pay professionals to do it.

Anyway, I committed a parenting no-no (I think I'm going to have a weekly post called Confessional, where I can 'fess up to committing horrible parenting crimes). I left A sleeping in the car and ran into the vets' office. I dumped Darcy on the poor receptionist and ran back to the car. I waited there until I could see the technician bringing Darcy back out from her procedure. Leaving your child in a car alone is SO not a good thing to do, but the thought of waking her up filled me with dread. I just couldn't do it. I feared that at any moment a police officer would arrest me for neglect, and I kept peering fearfully out the window of the vets office while I paid the bill (just in case you're about to call the CAS, the car was in my full view and the doors were locked...and it was very warm in there....I swear). Can you smell the guilt?

As I'm writing this post, Tom has called on the phone and told me that I'm going out to see a movie by myself tonight. He is going to take over as soon as he's home, and I've got the night off. God love wonderful husbands!!!