I am so, so tired. Months ago, when writing about my exhaustion, I didn’t think it possible to become more tired. I was wrong. I am so tired, and life is so nutty right now, that I am becoming severed from my reality. I feel dislodged from all my anchors. It’s just weird, and I am tired.

It’s Saturday night, the kids are finally in bed… what a bunch of nasty little critters WE had today. Let’s see… hmmmm… the highlights…

1. Last night before going to bed Sebastian asked me to wake him up before I went to bed so he could do a wee wee because, "I had soooo much to drink." (He drank a lot of water between dinner and bedtime.) I forgot to do that. Turns out he didn’t wee the bed, but he did wake up at 6:25 AM to do a wee wee and wake-up the world… triplets, me… half the building. (But not Tess.) I was sooo, sooo tired that just after breakfast when Tess awoke she sent me to bed for a nap.
2. Halfway through that nap someone – I think it was Seb – announced a poopers on the kitchen floor. I shot out of bed to discover Jasper had whipped off his PJs to plant a big one on the kitchen floor. As calm as possible very firm words – not yelling – were had with JJ. I could see the adrenalin coursing through his eyeballs as he reverted to tears. We made him scoop it up with tissue and plop the offending matter in the toilet. Then together he and I cleaned the floor and mopped it, too.
3. Somewhere in the middle of all this a seriously stinky load wafted through the air. Carys! The payload in her nappy was soooo nasty, it started a case of nappy rash. Tess and I were stunned. Tess looked down, "THAT wasn’t there 12 hours ago." Remorseful Carys said, "thank you, Daddy" after I changed her diaper (as she always does.) I’m telling you, Carys is pure lady with manners but wow, she has toilet issues.
4. I don’t know about Tess because we’ve hardly had a moment to talk today, but I was sooo tired this morning that nothing happened according to plan. Ideally, Tess would have had a lazy morning sleeping and recovering, while I took the kids to Bowen Road for a run on the trike. That never happened. Tess got up and we plotted taking the kids out to lunch somewhere different. That never happened. Time slipped by and toddlers continued to either demand time or burn through toys (read: throw toys everywhere) while we tried to get our world organized. No such luck. Finally I said to Tess, "let’s start by getting them all in the car." That worked, and finally Tess said, "let’s just go to the ABC for lunch." This was a major concession for Tess – I love the place because it reminds me so much of sailing as a kid and I just love the whole thing – but Tess tires of it… same menu, same environment, blah blah blah. But a terrific compromise was to order something competely different for the kids… NOOOOO chicken nuggets, instead they had sweet and sour pork, Singapore noodles and fried rice. They did okay despite the nasty and beligerant behavior throughout. (And Sela loved Tess’ chicken tikka as always.)
5. Naptime… what nap? We arrived home to discover more poopers in nappies that we reacted to with various degrees of concocted poker faces. We warned the triplets that failing to nap – or any form of partying in their bedroom – would be met with confiscation of all bed toys. (Note Tess’ blog about what the kids love to take to bed.) One hour later none of the trips had any bed toys and Sela & Carys weren’t even wearing their Grobags. ARGH! The party continued until Sela & Carys stripped off their PJs and nappies. I stood above them in shock with every molecule inside me summoning a poker face.
6. Playground nasties… with no nap to keep their moods buoyant, the afternoon quickly digressed. In the playground JJ had multiple time-outs for various infractions, although he did impress me with his ability to drive the four seater trike. Sela was a basket case… any little thing set her off and she easily spent 50%+ of the time crying. (We were on the playground for almost two hours.) Carys was remarkably calm. Sebastian was all over the map. When it came time to go home, Tess was talking to a good friend of ours, Mark, so she stayed for an extra few minutes. Carys felt she needed to accompany mom and stayed, too. This sent Sela into orbit, and she spent the next 435 minutes screaming her head off (okay ~ it was only 45 minutes but I think you get the point.)
7. Dinner was on the edge but we got through it. Sebastian proudly shared his leftover ham and cheese panini from Friday night but the trips were not interested (other than Carys who will eat anything but we later had to check to make sure the thing wasn’t stored in her chipmunk cheeks.) The moment the trips throttled back on eating… "oh, all done??? Don’t want anymore… well then bedtime for you!!!" They went from nasty to sleep in above four seconds.
8. Despite the usual cautionary comments about being a bit bossy etc, Sebastian generally stayed clear of the trips’ trouble throughout the day. He’s had better days but came in for a very pleasant landing while Tess read him a book, and I talked to him about his first dental visit in a few weeks while helping him brush his teeth. He was asleep in about ten minutes.

I stop to look back at the last 12 hours and think, "what the heck was that?" Tomorrow De & Lita will be back on deck since I fly off to the US in the afternoon. I am on my second rum & coke. In a few minutes I am going to self medicate with prescription drugs found – without a prescription – in none other than India that I guarantee you will help me get the ten hours sleep I so desperately need. You don’t like that idea…? Go ahead, spank me. I dare ya.