Feeling like an exhausted and emotional superwoman!

Here I am, sitting in the car while J-Bear naps.  Laptop leaning against the steering wheel.  Snow steadily falling.  Coffee beside me.  Blogging to begin.

It's been an emotional few days.  Those of you who aren't in the Greater Toronto Area wouldn't necessarily know the terrible story of a three year old boy who left his grandmother's apartment at 4am in the frigid temperatures wearing only a pull up, t-shirt, and boots.  He was found 300m away 6 hours later.  I can't stop thinking about him and his family.  My only way to understand this is that it was late and cold and he just curled up and went to sleep without suffering.  The cold has been so intense that there have been cold weather alerts for days - students haven't played outside during recess, fingers are frozen through gloves within seconds.  And the poor family - waking up to find out they will never see their little man again.  How will they cope?

And then, something terrible happened in my classroom yesterday.  I can't blog about it as it is confidential.  But it makes me think about how we send our children to school and expect them to be safe and treated well.  I'm not sure what I would do or how I would react if I got a phone call about something happening to my child.  I'd be on the phone with the trustee, the superintendent, the principal, demanding action.  Demanding that my child be safe in the classroom.  As I explained to the mother last night (I called home at 9:30pm), I try to take care of these kids as if they are my own children, as I hope my children's teachers take care of them when they are not in my care.

Severe sleep deprivation and emotions running high.  And then SR wakes up this morning saying she can't walk - can't put pressure on her right leg - but she was okay to crawl around on the floor.  I didn't know if she was being over dramatic (she's pretty dramatic) or serious.  But she had to miss her fitness class this morning with her best friend, A, and miss going with him to the library after.  If she's too uncomfortable to do that, then I had to take her seriously.  Our doctor's office was closed, but we got an appointment with the pediatrician on call at another office.

My plan was to take the double stroller, because S couldn't "walk, and then I could safely get the kids into the doctor.  But as I went to look at the double stroller in the garage, I was going to inspect it for mouse droppings (there are traps in my garage, but it hasn't been opened since the fall), I moved the stroller and saw what looked like a clump of hair/fur on the floor.  In typical girl fashion, I panicked and decided I did not want to see what was inside the stroller (my strong daddy can come over and open the stroller tomorrow to make sure there's nothing there), and I decided to take my chances letting J run and pushing the 4 year old in the single stroller.

Here's where Superwoman comes in.  I had J-Bear on his new leash harness, and SR in the stroller.  He was running and falling, while I tried to steer the stroller.  I got us into the elevator (by asking someone who was getting off if they wouldn't mind holding it open for me - um, hello common sense people just watching me struggle), up to the doctor and through the door.  Shoes have to be taken off there and strollers left in the wait room.  I'm carrying my 4 year old into the dr room, and J starts freaking out thinking he's getting checked out by a stranger.  Trying to keep J from climbing the stairs to the bed while S is being examined.  Then we have to make our way to the xray room to have her knee checked out.  J in stroller, s on the xray bed, and I had to trust the tech with my daughter b/c J couldn't be in the room and he wouldn't let me go in and be left with a stranger.  The walk back to the dr office, I decided to keep J in the stroller and I carried S in a cradle hold while pushing the stroller - hence superwoman.

AND SHE'S FINE!!!!

I get to my parents' place and my dad was still at the synagogue, S went inside for lunch, and J is napping.  So I decide to shovel their driveway, as I know my neighbours are doing my drive.  Something nice.  My dad walks up, their drive is huge, and I'm almost done.  No thank you, just "oh, the service guy will be coming soon.  You don't have to do this."  My dad loves to shovel, but he had surgery this winter and so hired a company this year.

So that's my update.

Loving being a mommy.  Would love a little more sleep.  Glad to be on blogger.  This outlet helps so much.