Mollie has a man cold (and a little rant)

I don't really like the term "Man Cold" because it's very off the mark.  It's a term that someone made up that means when men get a cold we all act like babies again and that when women have colds they just work through it. I'm calling B.S. There are plenty of times when I have gone to work with a cold, headache, back pain, shin splints, etc. Whenever I actually have a cold where it's bad enough that I have to stay home from something (very rare) it's pretty bad, like I'm nauseous, ready to throw up and can't walk straight. So in these extreme cases, yes I am going to need a little attending to, like possibly someone to make the kids lunches. Most of all I just want to lay in bed and sleep when this happens. What sucks about being a stay at home parent though, is you never get a sick day. You just plow through it and hope you don't pass out during the day (or sometimes I think it might be nice).

Anyway, Mollie today has had a bad cold. Sniffling, coughing etc. You know how I can tell, because she is asking me every 20 seconds for another tissue. Which brings me to my next point. It's 11 am and I have been working on the dishes since 9 am and just barely got them done. We didn't have a lot to do... we had Pizza last night.  This was dishes from breakfast and a little bit from yesterday, but because I kept getting interrupted every 20 seconds (literally) I would wash half a dish... wipe a nose. Finish the last dish...wipe a nose. This went on for some time. In the meantime when Mollie wasn't having me collect her mucus in disposable cotton, Lukas was asking me every 30 seconds how to do something in his video game Lego Batman.

You know those times when people who "work" wonder what SAH's (Stay At Home's) do all day and they think it would be nice to have that life. Catch up on Days of Our Lives, eat bon bons, take long naps, play bridge and catch up on the latest Oprah Winfrey book club book?

Well, to put that rumor to rest, that is exactly what I do. With all my spare time I also put together homeschool lessons three three years out, create and photograph all my beautiful homemaking ideas and post them on pinterest (yes I AM THAT EVIL PERSON and I want you all to feel like less of a person because you can't make Despicable Me minion cupcakes for your son's Birthday Event/Party that takes more planning than a wedding). I also work out everyday but I do it with my kids because only bad parents leave their kids at the Gym daycare, do crafts and learning activities with my children,  they NEVER spend more than 30 minutes watching television/playing minion rush/or nintendo, and my house has this great feature where it never gets dirty or untidy. All this because I have magic Yoga Pants that let me do anything.

Oh, and all the laundry is done too. My secret! I just buy new clothes and throw the dirty clothes away! You should all strive to be like me, but not too hard because you know you'll never achieve it. It's because I live in an alternative reality where my days actually have 36 hours in them and my children sleep or are in school for 30 of them. It's so GREAT to be ME!!!!

NIGHTMARES!

My kids talk in their sleep. There. That's my nightmare. It kind of freaks me out! But in all seriousness they have conversations in their sleep. Mollie scolds her dollies in her sleep, Nikki argues with her friends, and it's really funny when they can hear each other because they sometimes argue with each other when they are asleep (not realizing they are arguing with a sleeping person while they themselves are asleep......yeah it's weird). It actually freaked out one of our babysitters. The first time she baby sat for us the kids went down to bed like a half hour after we left.

Then it began.

Let's just say she was a little reluctant to come back the next time. They thought our kids were possessed.

The only one who doesn't really talk in their sleep is Lukas. He occasionally will say something, but nothing to the extent of Nikki and Mollie. So last night when he started talking it took me a while to realize that he wasn't asleep. It started with a

"Daaaaad?"

 and me half asleep trying to make sense of the whole thing. "Go to bed Lukas."

"But Dad, um, can you come and cuddle me?"

Me still half asleep, "No, it's time to go to bed."

"OK"

silence

a few minutes later, and with a little more desperation in his voice, "Dad can you PLEASE cuddle with me?"

Ok something is up, and I thought, I bet he's scared. Now Lukas is a tough kid. He won't just come right out and say that he's scared, or hurt physically or emotionally. You have to ask him directly, and even then he won't always say it. So I went and picked him up and we went and cuddled and I asked him if he was scared.

"Well, yeah, just a little bit."

"Did you have a nightmare?"

nods

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

nods

"There was a monster, and the monster was going to eat Molls (his nickname for Mollie)."

"Really, what did you do?"

"I punched the monster in the face and he died!"

"Wow, did you save Mollie?"

Nods

"Were you scared?"

Nods

"And you killed the monster anyway?"

"Yeah, and then Mollie was safe."

The thing that is really significant here, is that Lukas isn't scared of Monsters. Well, not anymore. When he was two Monsters Inc scared the living crap out of him. But now he loves em and is not scared at all. What scared him was Mollie getting eaten. He absolutely loves that little girl so much. She is his best friend, amigo, buddy, whatever. Sure they fight, but they play so well together. He is an AWESOME big brother!

This just in....

So I was in the middle of writing a post on how Lukas is pretty much resistant to pain, when Mollie happened. Here is the scenario.

The kids were watching Dinosaur Train in our Living Room/Kitchen/Playroom (Student housing).  Mollie had found a green elastic workout band thing and had begun to flick it back and forth, annoying Lukas but generally harmless....but not really. I did not realize that she had put a glass of milk on the TV stand and was trying to whip it off with her elastic (no more Indiana Jones for the kids...not that they watch that or anything......sorry Kara).

The problem happened when she finally succeeded, and milk went FLYING everywhere. On the TV, the DVD player, the Rocku, the VCR (yes we still have one. You wouldn't believe the video selection at Deseret Industries), and all over the floor. Mollie screams out "My MILK!" And I inwardly scream a swear word. I grab a rag and begin cleaning up, and Mollie comes up to me and says "Daddy, can I have some more milk?"