Rainy Day Blues

What a sucky day it is in Rochester today. Now, normally I love me a rainy day (and a rainy night, as does Eddie Rabbit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMZ4amjbqhU) so it isn't the rain that made this morning a suckfest. Well it is, but only b/c we had to leave the house (dammit.) You see, my love for stormy, rainy, monsoon weather is like my love for snow: fun to sit inside and cuddle happily and warmly and watch the precipitation fall from safely behind closed doors and windows. But, it's a whole different story when you have to get ready, then get an almost 2-year-old ready and then a 4-year-old ready to include breakfast, hygiene, and wardrobe. By the time it's all said and almost done, you've selected and placed approximately 26 articles of clothing on everyone and you head out the door. Now, the chances are pretty good at this point (and it should be noted here that there is a direct correlation between the goodness of the chances and the bigger of the rush that you're in) that when you get to the car one (or more) of three (or more) things will have occurred: someone has pooped in the ten minute span between dressing and car seat placement, something has been left/lost and must be retrieved before departure can take place, something mechanical is preventing exit (car won't start, garage door suddenly broken and won't open, or husband moved car seats from one vehicle to the other and THE CAR SEATS ARE NOT INSTALLED, THEY'RE JUST SITTING ON THE FLOOR OF THE GARAGE AND YOU HAVE TO INSTALL THEM YOURSELF WHICH TAKES ABOUT 30 MINUTES AND YOU USUALLY CRY AND SWEAT AND CURSE TRYING TO GET THEM IN. Ahem, sorry, anyway, you get the point. And I've totally cancelled appointments b/c of that last one. Seriously, the few times that I've walked into the garage to go somewhere and seen the car seats just sitting on the floor I've been close to reacting like they were two dead bodies laying there, like falling to the ground and screaming "Oh God, no!! Why? Why? Oh my God!!" That's how horrible putting in the car seats is for me.)

This morning was only slightly better. We were all in the car and on our short drive to school, but once we got there (Kathy's Law) it starts pouring especially hard, like a little gift from the heavens just for us. Looking around at the kids walking in I was really appreciating the preparedness of their parents: I saw ponchos, umbrellas, rain boots, hats, raincoats, slickers, etc., etc. It was then that I realized not only do I not have an umbrella (not like I don't have it with me, but like I don't think I own one) but my kids are not exactly rain/weather-ready today. Julian is his usual Ralph Lauren model self, but he's wearing khakis and a button down with a cloth jacket over it and Charlotte doesn't have on a jacket at all, let alone the cutesy matching hat/raincoat/rubber rain boots combo that was the apparent choice of everyone else this morning. As I looked around at the lines of cars and buses and the throngs of students, parents, and teachers and contemplated my humiliating walk of shame I seriously considered leaving her in the car while I ran Julian up to the door (which was looking reeeeeaaallllly far away) but my neurotic paranoia of her being kidnapped or carjacking me overrode the threat of humiliation and I grabbed her and Julian and took off for the school entrance. Of course, at this point I feel like I'm feeling like it's in slow motion and that everyone is staring at me with their mouths agape and shielding their kids' eyes from the horror of seeing the lady with the poorly apportioned apparel on her own children. I then discovered that people were indeed staring at me, but it was b/c Charlotte had lost a boot in the middle of the freaking street as we were trying to shuffle across. I heard horns honking and people yelling and I looked down to see her bare foot hanging out in the rain. Oh my God, I hadn't even put socks on her in this freezing, rainy weather b/c I figured it didn't really matter since she'd be wearing boots. I didn't plan for said boot to come off in the street. I wanted to yell "it's in the boot!! It's down in the boot! THE SOCK IS IN THE BOOT! I TOTALLY PUT SOCKS ON MY TODDLER THIS MORNING...I MEAN, I WOULD NEVER *NOT* PUT SOCKS ON A BABY IN THE FREEZING WEATHER, YOU KNOW?" but I just scurried and dove down for the boot, got Julian safely to his destination for the hand-to-hand drop-off, and carried a drenched Charlotte (and self) back to the car. I kept apologizing to her, but she just kept saying "raining hard outside Mommy," and "lost pink boot," so I don't think she was too traumatized, or frostbitten.

When it comes to my mornings, when it rains it pours.