Amy and the Aggravating, Very Annoying, Not Bad, Very Good Day

This is another one of those posts wherein I complain; whilst those of you who have 'real' cause to complain roll your eyes at me & mutter under your breath how blessed I am & how dare I be negative.
I hear ya chirpin'.
BUT, we all have a right to vent & be heard, and my blog is that very outlet.
So, here goes...

Gabe for whatever reason will not walk down the steps anymore. I don't know why, he just stands at the top & tells me something important, only I don't understand what he's saying. And while I make several trips downstairs to the car before we actually leave to go somewhere, I don't want one of those to include carrying his 2-yr old self. Get with the program Bubby.

So, we leave this morning, with no time to spare (my fault, I know), to head toward 'the city', to have Gabe's audiology screening done. It was next door to the hospital where Flynn was born, in a medical building.
And if you know anything about medical buildings, you know the parking can down right stink. So, imagine my delight when I pull into the closest row & spot a person climbing into their Explorer at the end space closest to the crosswalk. Woohoo, I let out a relieved call (because, remember, I didn't have time to spare) as we had approximately 2 minutes to unload people from car seats, cross the walk, go up in the elevator, & find an office we'd never been to.
So, we patiently wait as the man adjusts his seat, puts on his seat belt...apparently does the 5-point check list he learned 60 years prior in Drivers' Ed. I found myself tapping my finger on the steering wheel but reassured myself, 'Hey! Close spot! No prob!!'
That was moments before I saw a grey malibu rounding the corner of the row. The way I was positioned, it was going to be easy for me to just pull straight into the spot, as the row I was perpendicular to was shorter than the row I'd be joining. But, alas! Old Lady Malibu had other plans. And as Explorer finally started backing out, he did so in the manner which blocked me & allowed Old Lady Malibu to TAKE OUR SPOT.
No I'm not kidding!
What you ask?, perhaps she didn't know we were waiting for the spot??
Then, the 10 honks I sounded BEFORE she pulled into the spot should've been a notice for her. But she just looked at us & proceeded. So, the next 40 honks were just for Pete's sake.
And when Flynn asked why I honked, I was honest, "I'm just a little aggravated 'cause that lady took our spot."
"She butted? That's not nice."
"No honey, it's not."

Then, she tried, re-tried, & tried again to get her malibu perfect into the straight simple space. And as we trudged across the parking lot, 1 large (awesome) purse, 1 medicine backpack, & a diaper bag; along with a toddler who didn't want to walk, and a preschooler who wanted to do balance beam on all the curbs, we ended up walking by Old Lady Malibu as she FINALLY was finished parking & was getting out of her car. (sorry for the longest run-on sentence in the world there).
Did I want to say something?
Heck yah.
But the honking was enough of a lesson to my kids on how mommy is just human.

Then, we get into the waiting room at exactly the appointment time. I sign him in & let Flynn choose where we would sit. She chose a row behind the only people in the waiting room. I talked her into one more row away, so as not to crowd 'Fake Ponytail' & her daughter. Fake Ponytail spent a great deal of time looking me up & down while I signed Gabe in. I even made eye contact with FP to let her know 'I see you checking me out Fake Ponytail. And is that a fake ponytail?'
FP took the next 30 minutes (yep, that's how long we waited out there) being subconciously rude. Rolling her eyes when Gabe was making a repetitive noise with a toy & sharply telling her mini ponytailed daughter to turn around when she was just watching my kids with their toys; which was totally normal for her mini me to curious about the surrounding children, plus it was something to do.

So, after waiting 30 minutes, the hearing professional (don't know her exact title), spent all of ten minutes with us to tell us that yes, Gabe's hearing is within the normal range. Something really sweet tho, was that she then pulled out a rubbermaid tote full of brand new dollar store toys & let each kiddo pick something out, while she typed up the results. While I completely guide my children's choices, there are some things worth letting them make a decision all on their own. This was such a case. And, after strong warning from me, "Flynn, remember the paddle & ball you got for Valentine's Day that broke right away? This is like that & probably won't last long. Look at this cute ball & scoop set, that'd be fun at the park later." I probably said that five times. But, but, but....
She chose the ball & paddle.
And.
It broke 2 minutes down the road.
What you say? She had plenty of other toys??
That's what I said through the ten minutes of tears. And, not letting a learning opportunity pass me by, I reminded PaddleGirl that I warned her & that she needs to listen better to Momma, who knows all about things breaking & cheap toys. And everything else in the world. Forever.

Fast forward to the park. This is the park close to the hospital. And is VERY COOL. We rarely go as it's so far & so, when in the neighborhood & it's not one of the 100 days it's rained so far this spring, we stop by for a good time.
That's what all the moms in West St Louis county must've said this morning.
Have I mentioned that I'm Crowd Overly Conscious? In other words, I hate waiting, my kids waiting, and 30 other snotty noses on the same play structure as my 2 snotty-nosed kids. But hey, we're practically in the city right?, when in Rome, I say...Let's play! Let's have fun! Now GO!
And they went. And had fun. And were perfectly polite (no bias there or overexagerration, the kids are gold in public).
Enter: Overly Protective Mom in a Fanny Pack (for the sake of time & cyberspace, we'll further refer to her as OPMFP).
OPMFP had a cute little boy about 3 or so months younger than the Bubmeister, who plays on his own & has for quite sometime now.
Now, I must step in & admit some overly-protectiveness myself here....I have been deemed a mom who shelters her kids & by golly, I don't mind it a bit...as long as it's not affecting others.
Okay, so picture a pretty large play structure: 3 slides, 2 sets of steps, 2 bridges, a climbing wall, a ladder, lots of bells & whistles.
To the side, note, a toddler structure - really small scale. Based around a tunnel in the middle, shallow steps, & a teeny tiny slide. All of this a'top the really soft rubber squares. In other words this little tod deal, NO ONE is going to get hurt on this thing. I'm convinced that an infant could randomly roll around & not get so much as a scratch.
OPMFP did NOT think so. She let her two year old climb up the steps as she WALKED BEHIND HIM. Um, lady, do you realize there's only like 2 steps & you could more accurately reach out your hand & secure your kid WHO DOESN'T NEED SECURING?
She didn't realize. And as I approached the structure because Gabe had already ran to it & was up one step, OPMFP had started to panic because OMIGOSH, my TWO YEAR OLD is climbing through the safe, perfectly level & danger-free tunnel ALL BY HIMSELF, I must *IMMEDIATELY* be at the other end of the tunnel because if I don't, LORD HELP US ALL, he might just do something without me, like practice some independence.
What you say? It's her perrogative?
Wrongo, not when she STARTS BACK DOWN THE STEPS in a panicked attempt to get to the other end of the whopping 2-ft long tunnel, she didn't bother looking behind her where Gabe is waiting his turn.
As she blindsides him & doesn't stop, doesn't apologize, just keeps saying, "Omigosh honey, wait for me!!", she acted like he was about to step off the side of the Empire State building. She never looked back to see if the kid she knocked backward was okay or if he suffered fanny pack abrasion.
That won the annoying award for the day. And her prize was me saying, "Oh gees, Gabe!, watch out...for.....the, uh, mom!"

Then, when we finally arrived home after the day's excitement, I decided to give into Flynn's week-long pleas of, "Momma, can I pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease plant in your garden??"
So, I handed her her gardening gloves, a baseball cap, & set her free in the messy, small flower bed she likes to call Momma's 'garden'. Gabe was sleeping, so I took the opportunity of her being busy with the dirt, to clean up some areas of the yard I never get to.
As I weeded & leveled a corner spot by the porch, straightening up brick & picking up rocks, I thought I noticed a snake skin.
Then.
I noticed
A SNAKE.
Between two bricks, I saw shiny grey skin. So, I pulled out my flag stake & poked the 'thing' to see if it was alive.
It was.
And it slithered down deeper into the cave of bricks, until I could no longer see its reptilia skin.
Have I mentioned that I'm an outdoors girl 'til it comes to SNAKES & SPIDERS?

Mix into the day's events, getting cut off on the highway, and waiting in traffic for a 'fresh' accident.

And that right now, both kids are in time out for 1 hitting & the other hitting back.

Peace out.

Cleanin' Out the Cell Phone Faux Toes

and when did I find?...

Do you remember the parking spot stealer & Fake Ponytail?

Feast your eyes amigos:

even after attempting, re-attempting, & re-re-attempting, the spot stealer & honking ignorer still managed to park horribly...we were out of our car seats, across the parking lot, & headed cross the cross walk by the time she was done parking.

"Honey, just ignore them, they don't know any better...they've never been in a pageant."