The Great Sharon Flood of 2010

This post will be pictureless - because as I have mentioned in an earlier post, my baby broke my camera.  Which, although I am still quite bitter about, is probably a good thing considering if I was to have taken pictures today they would all contain images of children with a look of total horror on their faces...well, no - they really didn't care.

Dave left yesterday to go to his new job on the other side of the state for an expo they were holding.  As I knew he was returning, I thought it would be a great surprise for him to come into a clean home that smelled nice.  So, after our wonderful day yesterday, I figured that maybe I could carry on the good energy to today.

Not so much friends, not.so.much.

Cleaning in general just makes me grumpy, but today as I was cleaning the girls' room from top to bottom I was feeling pretty good about how much we were accomplishing together and how quickly.  Then they all disappeared and left me alone to clean the entire room by myself. 

That's when "Grumpy Mama" bore her head. 

I figured the kids were playing and making yet another mess for me to clean when I was done with my current task.

I was right.

Too right.

As I left their room and walked across the play room to mine, I saw a gigantic puddle of water.  Then I saw what was happening.  The sink in my bathroom had been stopped, the water turned on full blast and my bathroom was flooded a good two inches full of water.  It spread into my bedroom, my closet, into Luke's room and even a little into the hallway.  I ran downstairs to see that it had made it's way down to a light socket and drained onto my kitchen floor.

That's when "Irate 'I brought you in, I will take you out' Mama" bore her head.

I quickly called my aunt and sent her a desperate text just so she would know that it probably was a life or death matter.  I then called my mom's neighbor because I remember she mentioned that he had a wet vac (mind you, this was just yesterday when he came to her rescue because her air conditioner was leaking.)  Both Bill (the neighbor) and Char (the fantastic aunt) rushed to my aid and helped me, well they did the clean up while I maintained the children.

Tonight, my floor is wet.  Tonight, when Dave got home my house was clean (good news) but he walked into a room with fans blowing, carpet pulled up and wet vacs and cords lying around (not good news).  Today, I questioned my parenting at the most basic level. 

Today, I did not like my children.

Yesterday I was so proud of my little family and the great day we had.  Today I was angry that I did anything fun with them yesterday - since they didn't deserve it today ( I know, I know, stupid logic...but I'm a woman, and that's my prerogative.)

You know, Super Nanny is casting right now...maybe I should call her.

No, but seriously - my kids are so full of life, adventure, mischief, curiosity and because they are little so often it comes out in total chaos and destruction around my home...making me feel like a total failure as a mother with out of control children who won't listen to me EVEN if their lives depended on it.

I was like Old Mother Hubbard tonight who spanked all her children and sent them to bed without any food.  I fed them mind you, but they didn't want to eat what I served them - so when they begged for a snack at bed time, I told them they could just wait till morning.  Usually I cave, but considering the circumstances of today, I was abnormally firm. 

I finally calmed down a bit, back to "Grumpy Mama" when Dave got home.  As I began to tell him about my day he seemed abnormally calm about the situation (so much so that I just stopped talking about it, since he wasn't joining me in my child bashing rant).  He then began to tell me about his day.

Today, he was at an expo for people with disabilities.  At his new job, he works with individuals and families to provide them vehicles that will give them their freedom and mobility back.  Today he saw families with children in wheelchairs that could not walk.  Families with children that had wires and tubes hooked up to them to help them live.  As he began to talk to me about the people he met, I could see tears welling up in his eyes.  My husband is pretty non emotional, yet today I could see he was greatly impacted.

So, before he got home I envisioned how this post would end...in some ranting and raving I'm sure.  But tonight I'm going to bed, grateful that my children have limbs that function and are healthy enough to be full of life, adventure, mischief, and curiosity.  Tonight I am going to bed filled with joy that my kids are healthy enough to do these wild things that cause my such grief.

Tonight - I'm humbled, and a little ashamed, that the Great Sharon Flood of 2010 will probably be my greatest hurdle I have to jump through for awhile and how angry and resentful I was today because of it - and there are families that my husband met today that are just grateful that they have a possibility of mobility again.

Dare I say it?  Yes I dare - thank you God for the flood.