Thanks to a prescription-grade anti-inflammatory, I’m not hobbling quite as much today as I have in recent weeks. My doc has determined (well, he said he’s 99% sure, but I will still have to get an MRI and see an orthopedist, to be certain) that I have torn my medial meniscus, one of the cartilage pads between my knee bones.

I’m not sure how it happened; there was no particular moment when it suddenly started hurting. It’s been aching for a while, but it finally became unbearable, so I went to see my doc. He did a series of stretches, twists and pulls on my leg, and apparently I winced and cried Uncle at the appropriate times to narrow down the diagnosis.

The medicine helps, but I still feel wary of making any sudden movements, and going down stairs freaks me out a bit … it makes me feel wobbly. Although I’m not thrilled by the idea of possibly having knee surgery, I do feel somewhat validated that I’m not just being a whiny-baby. 🙂

One of the beauties/frustrations (depending on the day) of having a large family is the blend of personalities under one roof. Surely, the odds are that someone (at least one??) will receive end-of-year school accolades like Patient Heart, Obeying Spirit, Gentleness Award, etc. …

… and then, there are the ones you know are most certainly NOT candidates for those awards. 😉

That said, congrats to Monkey Boy No. 5 for the Top Reader award, No. 4 for Perseverance and No. 3 for Super Growth (inside & out!).

You each make me proud (& drive me bonkers) in your own unique way. 🙂

This summer is shaping up to be a busy one, and school isn’t even out yet! With my two summer courses already in full swing (our semester schedule is a bit odd, yes) and a seemingly endless end-of-year to-do list for the kids’ schools, my chill-out-online time is slim.

So, I’ve decided to take a break from Monday Musings, Wednesday Words and Foodie Friday for a while. If I have something particularly poetic, I may plan to share it on a Monday, and I may still bore you with share updates about my research and such on Wednesdays and talk about nomnomnom stuff on Fridays, but I won’t pressure myself to write consistently this summer.

It has been a good practice, though, because it makes me pause and reflect at various points during the week.

As we say in the South, “Don’t be a stranger!” Stay in touch over the summer, and I’ll still post pretty regularly; I’m just not abiding by a schedule. I will still write the weekly devos for church and cross-list them here, as well.

I did the unthinkable earlier this week: I bought a bathing suit without trying it on. I know, crazy, right?! The thing was, I was returning a pair of jeans & shorts for my eldest that I bought without him there, and they were (surprisingly!!) too big. I didn’t bother getting a buggy, since I was just planning to exchange the clothes during my lunch hour and didn’t *really* have time to shop.

When I got back to the boys’ section, I saw that they had Levi jeans on clearance for $7! Whoa – can’t pass up that bargain for next school year! So, I stocked up on two pairs apiece for the older three boys. (They were out of the size the younger two wear.) If you’re doing the math, that’s six pairs of jeans I was carrying, plus two pairs of shorts that I got for the eldest, since he’s growing like a weed and has hardly anything to wear this summer.

Arms full, I passed by the ladies’ department and saw that bathing suits were on sale. Mine from last year was not only threadbare, but also the flimsy straps broke and were held together with safety pins … b/c I’m classy like that, y’all. So, I decided to take a gamble and get a tankini set (long “tank” style top and separate bottoms, so you can get different sizes, if need be). I found a cute black & white set (with thick straps, thankyouverymuch) that caught my eye. The tankini style is perfect for me, because I always need a larger top, if you get my drift.

Anyway, I didn’t have time to try them on, so I got a size larger than my pride suggested that I needed (bathing suits always run small, right?!) and hoped for the best.

When I got home, I decided to try it on. Lo and behold, it fit!! I was so happy (not for how it looked, necessarily, but that it actually covered what needed to be covered). Unfortunately, somehow in the course of pulling the tank over or off of my head (or perhaps it was already like that & I failed to notice), I managed to pop a thread on the edge of the underwire, and it gave me a huge gash next to my armpit.

It didn’t hurt, and I didn’t notice it until I had already put my regular clothes back on and noticed a wet feeling in my armpit. Uh, yeah – that’d be blood. I had to call one of the boys to help me, since I couldn’t bend my cut arm to hold the bandage. He was pretty creeped out to have to touch my arm near my armpit, but I think he understood that I was in a real pickle, and he didn’t complain.

At least it quit bleeding relatively quickly and is already closed up. Those red streaks are an unfortunate skin reaction to the first aid tape, blerg. Classy, no? I’ll keep an eye on it to be sure that it doesn’t get infected, but I think it’ll be ok.

The moral of the story is: Underwire is evil, and we should all go braless and wear muumuus … to heck with fashion! 😦

Well, apparently, I’m a day ahead of myself! Oops – I hope you enjoyed tomorrow’s Wednesday Words a day early. Ha!

Have you ever thought about how nice it would be to have a personal assistant? Someone to keep track of your calendar, run errands, etc.? I think it might be nice for a while, but my independent streak might get the best of me. There are times when I begrudge busy work (like driving to campus just to pick up a letter from a dean because I don’t have a student worker or assistant anymore who can go and do it for me), but then, I don’t really mind getting out of the office for a few minutes, either. So, I can’t really complain.

The calendar thing, though – that would be wonderful. Perhaps then, I wouldn’t forget that I bought a ticket for a luncheon an hour before time to head over there! Thankfully, a) I ran into a friend in the hallway who asked if I was going, and b) I didn’t make conflicting lunch plans. Perhaps also, I would realize sooner than the afternoon before that the two 1st graders have a book report due the next day. Thankfully, their “reports” consist of three sentences describing the story, so we managed.

These are the tongue-in-cheek things that I point to when people say, “I don’t know how you do it.” I just laugh and say, “Apparently, I don’t always do it well!” 🙂

I’m about three pages away from completing my term paper, and I ought to be working on it, but I have to tell you about a brilliant idea that a friend shared with me this week. It isn’t about writing, per se, but it is about words in the form of a creative list …

A fellow mom of many created a bucket for wayward items that she “ransomed” from the kids. In order to retrieve a confiscated item, the kids have to draw a chore/assignment from the to-do list. I have put toys, etc., in “time out” before, but I love the idea of having to earn them back. Clever!

Since we have a currently unoccupied closet (not that it is empty, only that the owner is away for several months with the Army) in the master bedroom, I decided to make that the Ransom Closet. My hope is that the boys will clue into the system pretty quickly, and we can downgrade to a bucket, as well.

Ransom Assignment Jar

So, here’s the plan: They had yesterday & the rest of today to pick up and put away what they wish to keep. I intend to come home for lunch on Thursday and do a clean sweep of kids’ clutter throughout the house. Anything that doesn’t have a home is going in the Ransom Closet.

When they want an item out of the closet, they’ll have to draw a slip of paper. There are 50+ assignments ranging from vacuuming a room to pulling weeds to scrubbing toilets to rubbing my shoulders and apologizing for being slobs. There are also a couple of freebie/warning slips in the mix, for the sake of grace. I explained the system to them, and one of the older boys read the entire list aloud, so there are no surprises.

I also plan to have a max time for ransomed items. In other words, if it isn’t worth it to you to retrieve it in a certain amount of time (perhaps three days), then you obviously don’t care if I give/throw it away (or put it away semi-permanently and re-wrap it at Christmas). We also discussed – and they came up with the solution – what to do with items that belong to everyone, like video games. They agreed that everyone has to pull an assignment slip in order to get the item back for the group’s enjoyment.

Also, our church is having a garage “sale” (basically freebie) at our inner city mission next month, so I also encouraged the boys that this is a perfect time to set aside toys, etc., that they willingly want to give away.

Here’s to developing better habits (for all of us) and reducing clutter! Thanks, Tina, for passing along the great idea! I hope it will help. 🙂

My parents’ church has a monthly fundraiser for their college ministry where the college students volunteer to babysit on a donation basis. It’s a wonderful 3.5-hr break (6:30-10pm) that the kids (and parents!) love. We started calling it Kids’ Night Out because we thought it sounded better than Parents’ Night Out, and besides, they think of it as a special treat to go and hang out with friends, play games, make crafts, watch movies and eat popcorn.

Sometimes, parents do need a break. I remember hearing way back in college that one-of-these-days when you get married, it’s important to have a regular “date night” with your spouse. Well, for the first year, we couldn’t afford to go out much, then we had a kid, then two, then we REALLY couldn’t afford to go out, much less hire a sitter. Then, there were three, plus a move and more financial woes. I know you get the picture without hearing the whole history. Date Night sounds nice in theory, but it’s difficult to implement, in reality.

Thankfully, we’re in a much better position nowadays, but we’re by no means lavish, and it’s nice to find an alternative like college childcare night where parents can get a break for an evening without breaking the bank. It is a fundraiser, though, so I try to give a generous contribution, but anyway … the point is that it’s nice to be able to do every now & then.

Now that the eldest is old enough to babysit in the eyes of the State, I’ve also begun giving him babysitting opportunities. Last night, Nos. 2 & 3 spent the night with grandparents, so No. 1 stayed home with Nos. 4 & 5 while I went to dinner with some friends. He has babysat for a little while here and there, but I think last night was the first time that he watched his brothers without calling me once! He had it totally under control, and I was very proud of him.

It’s nice to come home from an evening out and find that everything is hunky-dory at home. He earned a bit more trust from me, and he’s earning good experience that ought to help him raise some spending money as he gets a little older. I know that I liked finding guy babysitters when the boys were young, because I felt like they might be able to relate better. Don’t get me wrong — we had some terrific girl sitters, but there’s something about boys connecting with each other, arr, arr, arr. I guess it’s a testosterone thing. :p

I’m linking up with The MOB Society again today for their weekly “Let’s hear it for the boys!” sharefest. I’m proud of my middle kiddo this week for trying to keep a positive attitude when he would be justified in sulking a while.

Let’s just say that playground tag + “pop” sound + lots of pain & swelling = sprained ankle … hopefully, just a sprain.

The accident happened on Friday after school, so we iced & wrapped it Friday night, then went to the urgent care center on Saturday morning when it appeared to be more than just a twisted ankle. He came home with a splint and crutches.

We went to his follow-up appt yesterday, and the doc is concerned about how the growth plate area looks on the x-ray & the fact that it’s still tender in that spot. So, we’ve got to visit the orthopedist. He was disappointed to leave the office still in crutches, but the doc did a good job of explaining that we want to take good care of the growth plate and be sure that it heals properly, if it is damaged, that way, he doesn’t have any problems growing big and tall like his Daddy (who stood 6′ 5″, if I recall correctly).

All in all, he’s had a pretty chipper attitude about the whole ordeal. In fact, this morning on the way to school, he made the comment that he’ll have to miss Mileage Club today (they run during PE every Thursday, and he’s trying to rack up 30+ miles over the school year). I told him I was sorry that he would have to miss it, because I know how much he likes running. He said, “Well, it’s for my own good.”

Pray for my lil’ runner, please … the novelty of having crutches has long since worn off.

Sometimes I catch myself saying things to the boys, and I shake my head at the curious creatures they are. Here are a few remarks that I heard come out of my mouth recently:

• “Would you guys please stop stripping off your clothes in the middle of the room?!”
• “Your food is not going to run off from your plate. Slow down. Breathe.”
• “Yes, you may play outside, but no screaming, fighting, whining or aggravating each other.”
• “So, you’re screaming bloody murder because he pushed you, but he pushed you because you hit him with the rake handle?”

Boys! :p