Roller Coaster

Wow! What a day it's been! Everthing was pretty normal until my kids came home from school. The chaos began during my first student's piano lesson.

"Mom!!!!! Help!!!!! (A neighborhood kid, whose name I won't mention) is chasing us with poison ivy!!!!" screamed my daughter.

"Right," I thought. "What kind of moron would be holding poison ivy and chasing people around with it?" I calmly finished the lesson and went to investigate. The kid was sitting at our picnic table in our backyard.

"So, " I began, "What's this about poison ivy? Did you really have poison ivy in your hands?"

"Yep."

"What were you thinking?" I asked completely dumbfounded.

"I don't know."

Of course not.

Meanwhile my son was sitting there scratching himself. "Mom, I'm really itchy!" I rushed him into the bathtub. Hopefully the damage won't be too bad.

An hour later, when my last student was leaving, my daughter came through the front door sobbing. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"The frog is dead," she wailed.

"Which frog? Croaky? (our pet)"

"No, Lisa!"

"Who's Lisa?"

Apparently Lisa was one of the frogs from the frog puddle. The above-mentioned neighborhood kid had taken Lisa out of her habitat. She got lost, ended up in the street, and dried out. My daughter was heartbroken.

"Do you want to see where I buried her?" She led me to the rose garden and showed me a little tombstone with flowers. On the stone was written the words, "My friend, Leesah."

The saga continues. As I was sitting at the kitchen table trying to help my teary-eyed daughter with her homework, my husband decided to break some important news. He gathered the children around and made this announcement: "Someone was just born who is going to become a member of our family."

My kids were thoroughly confused. He went on to explain, "We're going to get a German Shepherd puppy in about eight weeks."

You should have seen my daughter. She went nuts - crying, laughing, squealing all at the same time. I wish I had my camera!

All would have ended happily had it not been for the last incident of the day. My son then was told to hustle upstairs to get ready for bath time. He hustled right into the back of an iron-back chair, chipping his tooth and bleeding all over. (I can only hope that he didn't damage his new front tooth that is just coming in.)

The kids are in bed now. Thank God! I don't think I can handle any more for today!