Lesson Learned

Just when I thought things couldn't get crazier, another surprise popped up.  As I mentioned in my last post, I had some serious juggling to do last Friday.  By the end of the day I was so exhausted, and looked forward to getting plenty of rest.  Not!!!!  It ended up being much more hectic than ever.  To give you an idea of how insane things got over the weekend, just think no toilet, and no shower.  You may want to stop reading here, if you have a sensitive stomach.

Don't say I didn't warn you, here goes.

I've always been prepared when my aunt flo pops in for a visit, once a month.  But I completely loss track of time because of my busy schedule.  On the way to my company's holiday party, she surprised me big time!  Luckily there's a stash at work for these kinds of events.  But, I forgot to make a run to the store to buy some extra for the next few days.

I didn't realize that I was ill prepared until I got home later that night.  So, I figured I might as well improvise with some paper towels in the meantime.  It did the trick!  But it was a temporary fix that later slipped my mind.  Let's just say the paper towel made an accidental escape into the ocean on my next trip to the bathroom.  Hey, it was either rescue the darn thing or treat it as though I were dropping the kiddies off at the pool.  I chose the latter thinking it was all good.  In fact, I did it a couple more times.

Everything seemed to be in working order, or so I thought.  I didn't think anything was wrong until the washing machine began spewing water everywhere later that day.  My hubby also noticed that the toilet was making a gurgling sound whenever he flushed it.  I then looked over into the bathtub and saw pieces of wet paper towel floating around.  I started to connect the dots and confessed to my hubby what I did.  The look on his face said it all.  I felt like a child being scolded, only he didn't reprimand me at all.  Instead he just gave a look which was a lot more worse.  I knew he was so disappointed.  But rather than yell, he got the plunger and went to work.  When that didn't fix the problem, he got on the phone and began calling every handyman he knew.  He eventually got in contact with someone who fortunately came over right away.

But before the handyman got his tools out to clean out our pipes, I came clean about what happened.  I told him to prepare himself for a blood bath.

"I wasn't gonna blow up your spot," my hubby said.
"I'd rather be honest," I replied.
"I've seen it all believe me," the guy said.

Turns out the guy was right.  There was a lot worse things in there than I thought.  I won't get into the details for your sake.  I would hate to be the one to make you regurgitate your last meal.  Long story short, after a two hour attempt and a run to Home Depot for emergency supplies, there was still water leaking everywhere.  I can remember seeing a look of dismay wash over the handyman's face when he realized he couldn't fix it.  He banged and drilled away at our pipes to no avail.  He then figured out that the clog was in one of the pipes at the back of the house.  He said we may need to knock down some walls to get to it.  My hubby and I looked in horror!  The last thing we needed was to spend a ton of money and take a sledge hammer to our house.  Not just my lining would be shedding, our pockets would be too!  There goes Christmas shopping!

It's bad enough we couldn't shower, use the toilet, do laundry, or wash dishes.  Raw sewage cascading like waterfalls on our basement floor took the cake!  To make matters worse, hubby and I had to tickets to see "The Mountaintop" starring Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway the following day.  Missing the play would be heartbreaking!  This was the first time in a while we had date night plans, and we couldn't exactly reschedule.  The timing couldn't be worse!  The handyman then made one last suggestion that we prayed would work.

He suggested to get a couple bottles of drano and pour it into the drain.  He said to let it sit overnight, and hopefully the problem would be fixed by morning.  Hubby didn't think it would work, but I remained optimistic.  We ended up giving the guy 50 bucks for trying.

After pouring drano down our kitchen sick, we crossed our fingers, prayed for a miracle, and hit the sack.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of running water, only it wasn't the kind you'd think.  It was my hubby doing laundry.  He came into the bedroom and shouted, "it worked!!"  I felt like celebrating.  The crisis was finally over!

While Princess enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Auntie Sophia later that day, her daddy and I headed to the city.  We made it in time to see the play.  We also got lunch at one of my favorite spots in the Theater District, Sardi's.

It was nice to get some alone time, even though the couple next to us made out the entire time.  Yuck!

I'm glad everything worked out.  But I was so exhausted that I dozed off for about 15 minutes during the performance.  I guess that was my punishment.  Thank goodness toilet waste was the only mess left to clean up.  That sure beats demolition and a hefty bill any day of the week.

What was I thinking?!  I learned a valuable lesson.  Never flush paper towels down the toilet.  If I ever accidentally let one slip again, I'll be sure to fish it out.  Have you ever done something so stupid?  Hit me up!

Weather Anchor Mama

Toddler Bullies

I contemplated on whether or not to write a post about toddler bullies.  But after these past few days, I decided I had to vent.  I never would have imagined dealing with bullying this early.  Princess goes to a fab daycare!  The teachers are great and the place is clean.  They run a pretty tight ship.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  However, since Princess has moved up from grapes to strawberries, I have noticed a few changes.  Instead of Princess being excited about being there, she's a bit more clingy to me.  She also fusses when I leave.  I understand that kids go through behavioral changes all the time, so to me it's no big deal.  She's usually ok, once the teacher calms her down.  But sirens went off in my head the other day, as I was unpacking her diaper bag at the center.

I saw one of the girls push my baby girl to the floor!  It totally threw me for a loop!  Princess is probably the youngest in her class.  She's among babies who resemble line backers, and I'm not just referring to the boys.  Some of the girls tower over her as well.  Even though she's within the 70th percentile for her age, some of the other babies are bigger and older.  They're stronger, have a much better balance, and say a few more words too.

When this baby girl knocked Princess to the floor, the teacher immediately helped her up.  I knew she was ok because she didn't cry and she had no bruises.  I even snapped this pic just in case.  You never know, I may need it for evidence.  hehe.

All jokes aside, Princess was fine and continued to play with one of the toy strollers.  Unfortunately, her time with it was short lived because the same girl tried to take it away from her.  Princess looked up at me as if to say, "help me mommy!"  I then said in a calm, but stern voice, "Excuse me!  You guys have to share!"  The little girl looked up at me with her arms out and said, "What?!"  I repeated myself, and so did she.  For a slit second she and I had a stare down, and then she walked away.  I couldn't believe my ears when she said "what?!"  OMG!  Am I really beefing with a toddler?

Anyway, the teacher didn't intervene at this point.  I guess it's because it wasn't that serious.  Maybe she thought that I had it under control.  Who knows?  But, it did leave a bad taste in my mouth.  It's a weird situation.  How do you discipline a toddler?  This little girl is probably about 16 months old.  I wasn't trying to reprimand someone else's child, but I had to say something.  After all, my child was involved.

When I told my hubby about what happened, he said "this probably happens throughout the day, when you're not around.  Princess could also be the aggressor too!"  He had a point because my baby girl is no push over.  I would never encourage her to bully other kids, but I certainly will teach her to speak up for herself.

I'm sure this is not the first or the last time that Princess will have to deal with bullies.  Despite this hiccup, I'm still happy with the daycare.  I think Princess is too.  But, I plan on bringing this up at the next meeting.

I don't even want to think about possibly dealing with one when she starts going to regular school!  I'd probably lose all my hair from stressing out!  Was your child ever bullied?  What would you do if your child was the aggressor?

Weather Anchor Mama