Get me to a hotel – robinchartier

It has been a heck of a week. I guess when Lucy gets sick, blogging is the first thing to go. How could I have the time when I’m swamped with getting the kids off to school, taking care of the baby, doing laundry and trying to pick up around the house? And on top of that I have to feed them too? It’s madness!

Not only that, but Josh was sick for 24 hours and the baby has had a cold and nasty cough all week so she’s not sleeping or napping. She took a 20 minute nap the other day and woke up screaming and it was an instant flashback to our first year.

I’m writing this from the plane on our way to Jordan. It’s been a fine morning of travel, but I’m ready for it to be over. I feel like one big stressball. I had a whole list of things to accomplish this week before we left the country and I got them all finished, but that meant that I didn’t have time to pack until last night.

Yesterday morning we had parent/teacher conferences with all the kids and they went surprisingly well. The best surprise was at Carter’s conference where his teacher raved about how well he’s doing both academically and socially. She has been seeing him open up and he has become an active participant in class (including reading aloud!). His reading is great, his math is great, he works well with others, and he is well liked by his classmates, including several of the girls that have a crush on him. After all the apprehension we had about him starting school and after his rough start with homework battles, it was so nice to hear and see how well he is doing.

Caleb’s teacher said he is kind to everyone and friends with everyone. She doesn’t think he has a mean bone in his body. He comes in happy and cheerful every morning and he is a great helper and participator. She said he works really hard and works well in groups and with partners. I had been concerned about his placement before school began – we were debating between 1st and 2nd because his age would make him a young 2nd grader and I felt like his skills were more at a first grade level. She confirmed that 2nd grade was the right placement for him, especially socially and emotionally. We made some plans and goals for his reading and writing. Skill wise he is the normal range for second grade, but at that age there is a pretty big range.

Then off to 7 different conferences with Calvin. All the middle schoolers received progress reports this week with a summary of assignments given to date, scores, and letter grades. The scores showed that there were several classes where he had issues with incomplete work, but it was a different story in person. All his teachers had wonderful things to say about him, they love having him in class because he participates, is interested, and asks thoughtful questions. What he needs to work on is making sure assignments are finished and submitted on time and that his work is complete. All in all, we agree with them that he has made a great transition to school and his problem areas are all things that have been newly required of him: multiple classes, rotating block schedule (every day is different), and determining the needs and requirements of 7 different teachers. I think he felt really good after meeting with all his teachers because he’s been feeling like he has so many things to keep track of and he’s not doing any of them well. To hear his teachers all say they were pleased with him and give him tips to help him for future assignments was really important.

After conferences we had 2 of the boys’ friends over to play and then I tried to pack while they played in the rain. Yes, we had rain! Tons of it. The roads were flooding and there was thunder rumbling and the kids were soaked from head to toe in minutes. It was beautiful.

I managed to get us all packed, but by then it was 10 pm and we had a 3:15am pickup – I know I ended up with less than 4 hours of sleep. Muscat has the craziest flight schedule. Everyone arrives and departs at the crack of dawn or late at night. We got to the airport at 3:30am and the parking lot was full, hundreds of people were gathered around the baggage claim, and in line to check in for flights – you would have thought it was the middle of the day. The worst part about these super-early flights is you end up with jet lag even though you’re only traveling 1 or 2 hours time difference. You get up at 2:45 – travel, travel, travel. Arrive at 10 am and crash at the hotel for a nap. Sleep 1/2 the day and then when night comes, you’re wide awake. Oh well.

So this morning, in the midst of these hoards of people, we have to check in. We’ve already checked in online, but there’s an issue with printing the baby’s boarding pass (there always is) so we have to go to the counter. Thankfully a new window opens up and we bypass many, many people, but those people came and went and we were still at the counter. And still at the counter. Josh was there over 30 minutes and at the end they were only able to give us the boarding passes for the first flight and they said someone would bring our other ones to the gate.

We were at the counter so long they were already loading the bus to board the plane, even though we arrived 2 hours before departure. But we couldn’t get on the bus because we had to wait for our second set of boarding passes. Meanwhile Camille starts yelling and arching her back and Carter starts complaining that he feels like he’s going to throw up. Then Caleb announces (loudly, cause that’s his only volume setting), “He has to throw up?!” And I can feel the people shrinking away from the screaming baby and the germ infested kid. My mind started to formulate a plan of grabbing Carter and the baby and catching a cab home and letting Josh take the other kids on the trip by himself, but when I helpfully suggested it, Josh just laughed.
We finally get our boarding passes and by this time it’s 5:30, our scheduled time of departure. They held a bus just for us along with one other family that had the same problem. The waiting was a pain, but at least we were waiting in the airport and not stuck on the plane like the rest of the passengers.

A private playground

After we’re finally in the air and I have Camille nursing, Calvin leaning on one shoulder and Caleb poking me on the other while hovering over Camille’s face, I start to feel claustrophobic and wonder why this trip sounded like a good idea back when we scheduled it. (Josh was off a few rows back with Carter, who probably didn’t say a word the entire flight – I should have swapped him out for one of the talkers).

Then, after landing, we’re all squeezed in the aisle like a bunch of cattle waiting to exit the plane and I feel someone tap me on the shoulder and say, “Excuse me, can you move so I can get by? I look at the crush of people ahead of me, all standing motionless and look back and the man and say, “Where do you think you’re going to go?” He replies, “I’m trying to catch up with my wife, and I’ve made it up from the back of the plane, but now you’re blocking me.” I laughed and motioned at all the people in front of me, “Oh, I’m blocking you. Right.” And then proceeded to ignore his suggestion that I scooch back in my row so he can pass me. To what? Stand exactly where I was standing? To top it all off, I’ve flown this leg several times so I know that we’re all getting off the plane to get on a shuttle bus. You gain no advantage by getting off the plane faster. You either wait on the plane or you wait on the shuttle.

It’s 6:30 in the morning and I’ve had 3 people hanging on me for the past hour, I’m annoyed by his ridiculousness and utter lack of logic, and I decide to ignore him. I’m further annoyed when I hear him telling Camille (She’s in Calvin’s arms who is wedged in next to me), “When you grow up, you’re going to listen. You’re going to be a good girl aren’t you?” Really?! How nervy. I was tempted to turn around and tell him that I hoped when she grew up she wouldn’t be a pushover, just like her mother, but by then the masses had started moving and I figured it wasn’t worth wasting my energy. The best part? When our shuttle left, he was standing and waiting at the bottom of the stairs for other passengers to exit the plane. I’m presuming his wife didn’t have the same sense of urgency to get off the plane as he did?

If she could talk, she would have told that guy to “bug off.”

Anyway, the rest of the trip was uneventful and I’m writing the rest of this from our hotel room. I’m lounging in a fluffy hotel robe after a bath and a long nap in a ridiculously comfortable bed so things are looking up. I’m totally going to have jet lag now, but it’s worth it.