Afternoon at the Veterinary Office

Today started out as most of my days do, although a little early (6am). The kids were up, so off to the gym we go, I've really been trying to make it at least 3 days a week. Everything goes smoothly, but at 12:30 I have an appointment with my cousin, so that meant that Ella and Ryan would not have a nap today. I reason to myself that it will be okay because surely they will snooze on the drive home, or on the way to pick up Aubrey from school.

Well that did NOT happen, so I think to myself that I have time to swing by the house, pick up the dog and then pick up Aubrey. I've needed to get the dog in to get a shot for weeks and I can't seem to fit it in. So today of all days I think it will be a great idea to take all three kids to the Vet's office.

We get there and the kids are a little hyper, but not horrible. We have to wait for about 15 minutes and they ended up in time out, and lost some privileges. Then we go into the room with the Vet.....they were so loud and awful that I had to send Aubrey out with his baby brother Ryan. Before I sent them out I asked the veterinarian if he had any tranquilizers for the kids.....he laughed but I was only half kidding! I kept Ella in the room and tried unsuccessfully to have a conversation with the Vet. The dog was shaking, the kids were screaming......what the what???!!!!

Aubrey kept peeking in the room, and I could hear Ryan squealing in the waiting room, so I was about to loose it. In all fairness I have a reason for my madness; my husband is at an Army school for 9 weeks and that alone is making the kids a little nutty.....and me too.

So as I'm trying to hold the dog's leash, pay for the services and get out of there, my three little heathens are pulling sheets of paper off of the tablets that contain advertisements.....I've asked them to stop repeatedly but they keep on. So finally with my wallet open, my purse on the counter I hand Aubrey the car keys and tell him to take the kids to the car and I'll be there in a minute. I'm parked 5 feet from the door, so this should not be difficult. Ella starts shrieking and carrying on just outside the door and the vet says to me, "geez you need to go home and have a glass of wine"...to which I reply, "haha a glass,.....maybe a bottle". It was so embarrassing!

I get in the car and call my husband just so he can hear what he's missing. I know it's cruel but I need some support so if that means he needs to hear what I'm going through then so be it. If he were in a war zone I wouldn't do that, but damn he's just out of state!

The worst part of your kids completely loosing their shit, is that it makes you seem like the worst parent in the world. My kids have done this before, but it has been a while since I've been so embarrassed that I could just crawl under my car! A guy comes in the office while Ella is stomping her feet and screaming outside the door, and says something about the dog being so well behaved. I then told him that I would trade in the kids for pets if I could. He tells me that his 24 year old son has a dog and says that's the only kid he will ever have. He said that his wife doesn't like it, but that's the way it is. I say, "well, it sounds good to me, pets are very manageable". I tell the Vet and his assistant that I'm sorry for the assault on their ears and I leave totally mortified!

Ella and Ryan bawl all the way home, so I tune it out and let them know that there will be no TV tonight and that they will be in bed by 7. They all throw fits about that, and Ella later tells me she's so bored without TV. Isn't that just sad! Then she tries to play her Leapster and the batteries are dead. I laugh because I'm making dinner and I'm not about to change those batteries for her. Needless to say, we had dinner, baths, and they went to bed at 6:45PM! I also told the kids that we will be going back to the vet next week and they will be apologizing for their behavior. I don't know what else I can do.............except maybe drink more??.........What an afternoon.....this is NOT how I imagined my life.............