Not My Finest Day

Yesterday was not one of my finest days. I got up late, which wether you have a job to get to or not, always signals a poor start.

We had been dog sitting for my in-laws and they got home last night. I wanted to take their dog, an easy going shih tzu named Duffy, home early so I could give him a bath. Since I was already running late, I was rushing to get everything done so we could leave. I gathered up Duffy's things--bowls, bed--and put him on his leash. I also decided to take my dog, a chihuahua mix named Bocci, with us too. Quite frankly, she was a stinky dog and I figured it would be just as easy to bathe two as it would be to do just one. We headed out the door with me juggling a four-year old, two dogs, my purse and keys, and an assortment of dog paraphernalia. I had just gotten the apartment door locked when my little one informed me that I had forgotten her shoes. Sure enough, her little feet were bare! So back in we all went to get shoes. (How bad a mother am I that I contemplated just letting her go barefooted? We do live in Florida, after all.)

We ran a few errands on the way to my in-laws and picked up some lunch. The afternoon went quickly, and the dogs were bathed without incident. We went to church and then come home for a light dinner while my husband went to pick up his parents at the airport. I had to fight to go to the bathroom when we got home, because, as every mother knows, as soon as you say you will get something after you go to the bathroom, any sane four year-old will rush the bathroom you intend to use. Dinner finally fixed, I called my sister. This of course, was a signal to my daughter to go crazy, talking to me, running around, and generally acting like she has no manners at all. Finally, deciding that was not enough to get my attention, she spilled her juice on the floor. (Thankfully it was apple not grape!)

I had enough! I got off the phone in mid-conversation (amid my sister's laughter) and put the little one to bed early before cleaning up the mess she had made. As if to add insult to injury, when I went to change my clothes for the night, I realized that I had put my underwear on backwards and had been wearing them like that all day. Some days, you just can't win.