Last Wednesday, I hit rock bottom. The morning was a huge stress ball of reality when the bank was unwilling to delve any personal banking information to me about my own accounts. Since 53rd is the bank Josh had first, I am listed as a subordinate versus a joint account on just about everything. (Nevermind that I have had my business accounts with them for 5 years….) So, I was unable to get any information about our credit card PINs without the paperwork proving I have Power of Attorney of banking. In China you can not use a credit card without knowing the PIN for it. I think the only time you need this security feature in the US is if you are getting a cash withdrawal.
When you are a married couple, you don't think about things like Power of Attorney. You know that the bank has accepted my signature as his signature for the past 10 years and just assume that you have some rights to the his personal information. No matter that I am the one that pays the bills. Alas, I digress…
So the morning was rough. And then I took my little people to the travel doctor for our consultation and shots. I had been weighing the pros and cons of who should get their shot first all morning…the overly dramatic 5 year old or the little teeny one who seems so helpless? The kids were both animals at the doctor's office, where we sat in a real room with a desk and a couch and talked for an hour about every single possible health issue from water to parasites to food to street safety to major health emergencies. Not really anything of interest to little men. The gorgeous space was filled with about 700 seemingly rare and breakable looking artifacts from Dr. Jones's trips. My nerves were shot before I made the last minute (and best decision) to take the kids for their shots one at a time with Tucker going first. He screamed and cried, but was over it with a sucker. Hudson, on the other hand, had a massive heart attack and was so tense by the time she whipped out the needle, I was doing some WWF moves just to keep him on the examination table with me. It was exhausting.
We arrived home and I made everyone lay down. Even me. And when we got up an hour later and needed to get ready for the final preschool program at school, the fun really began.
Hudson got up first. Well, tried to. As soon as he stood, he hit the ground. Wailing. Sobbing. Begging me to "take the needle out of his leg". I did my best to console him and went to get Tucker up and dressed. He didn't even make it completely standing in his crib before he fell down crying "Pain. Pain. Pain." I went and grabbed the medicine and started dosing out pain relief intermixed with hugs as we formed a huge pileup on the kitchen floor.
I finally got them out the door carrying Tucker and with Hudson hobbling by my side. It was pouring rain and we were officially soaked by the time we made it into the school: Tucker, unwilling to put his feet on the ground, and Hudson hanging on me like a coat on a coatrack. I just stood there outside Tucker's classroom and cried.
As a single parent I was a total FAIL.
Hudson's sweet teacher came over to help. Eventually I got Tucker to hold his own weight and was willing to go into the class. Hudson's teacher stayed with him while big brother and I went into the auditorium to watch the program. After a couple of minutes I received multiple pictures from the teacher showing Mr. T playing with the kids and doing just fine. Tucker was a champ. He walked all the way down the aisle of the church, sang his little songs, and smiled. He fell off the steps trying to go back to his seat, but he did not cry.
I am grateful for the village that helped me get through that day --and the electronics which showed me he was okay so I could relax.
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