Week from Hell

So for the 2nd time in 2 years, the plant Johnny works in had a power outage.  For a place that operates 24/7, this is not good.  We were not here for the first one, it just made our move difficult since we found out we were moving to Virginia just about the time the power went out, so no one would/could talk to us for weeks and weeks, which was all the time we had to coordinate our move across the country.

Anyway, this time Johnny gets to help, which means 12 hour shifts at night.  This is not the first time we've done 12 hour shifts, but it is the first time we've done 12 hour night shifts with seminary, and 2 kids, and winter, and for 9 days in a row.

Now, night shifts are better than having Johnny gone for the week.  And possibly in our situation better than 12 hour day shifts, but things have not worked out like I had planned . . .

In my naive brain I figured:  I can do my work in the morning as usual, get this kids down for a nap, everyone sleeps, everyone wakes up, Johnny plays with the kids while I get dinner ready, thus occupying them at the craziest time of the day, we eat together, Johnny leaves for work, I get the kids down, and then rather than hanging out with Johnny in the basement, I can have some major me-time to do some projects in my sewing room, or deep clean the kitchen, or eat ice cream in the basement and watch a movie.

Not a bad plan . . .

So how is it, that when Johnny is at Young Men's and I'm alone at night, bedtime is smooth and things are great, but when he's gone for work the nightmare begins?  Wait, don't answer that.  Anyway, I am currently on Day 3 in the week from hell.  We had Book Club today.  Most of the people there have husbands working 12 hour shifts at the plant, too.  The week from hell is universal.  Which double sucks because we have absolutely no one we can turn to for help.  We are muscling through, like civilians running a marathon.  It is not pretty.

Day 1:  The Captain's loud after we get back from seminary, but I manage to feed everyone and vacuum the main floor.  I have to carry the baby while doing this, which is physically exhausting.  Most of the way through, I discover The Captain has taken refuge in the upstairs bathroom and is wrecking havoc again.  So I throw more and more of my stuff away, (why just my stuff, child?) have him help me clean up, and get us all down to the basement. Yes, I would love to shut him out of my bathroom, but he's potty training, and sadly, needs the access.  I have no master bathroom.  What else can I do?  The Captain goes poop in the potty (first time in weeks), so I promise to make cookies with him after nap time (my incentive to get him to poop in the potty).  After nap time, he goes poop in his pants.  We don't make cookies.  Johnny goes to work.  I start bed time.  7 pm- The Captain in bed.  7:45- Joy in bed, The Captain out of bed 4 times.  10:00 - The Captain finally asleep, after 2 more attempts to get out of bed.  Sewing room organized! 10:30 - bed time for Mommy.  11-4:30 - The Captain wakes up 3 times, each time putting himself into hysterics and getting out of bed to sob uncontrollably outside my door until I carry him back to his bed and help him calm down.  5:00 - Joy wakes up to eat, during which, The Captain wakes up again to go into hysterics.  6:00 - alarm goes off.

Day 2: 6:10 - get out of bed, wake up the kids go to seminary.  Get to the church, and check my phone.  No school today, which means no seminary.  Why oh why didn't I check my phone at home?  Go to Walmart.  The Captain goes pee in the big potty.  Suppress my loathing, spend more money than planned (kids summer clothes on clearance!).  Go home, hang out in the basement.  11:00 - early lunch and nap time.  11:30 - The Captain is asleep!  Wait for a bit, crossing my fingers.  12:00 - Joy is asleep.  Lay down for nap.  2:00 - Johnny gets up to pee.  2:05 - The Captain wakes up, wakes up the baby, I get up to deal with it.  Johnny goes back to sleep.  3:00 - Pack up the kids and drive 30 mins. to get new tires on the car.  The amazing auto center not only has a really nice waiting room with lots of fun kids toys and a play area, but Taste of Home magazine and a nice bathroom (another successful public toilet pee!!).  Stop at 2 more stores for wreath supplies and rice noodles for Johnny's birthday next week (I'm hoping to not shop again until then).  5:30 - get home.  Johnny is playing video games on the computer and watching shows in the basement.  Fix a quick dinner.  Complain.  6:15 - Johnny leaves for work.  Clean up the house, The Captain gets a bath.  7:00 - The Captain's in bed.  Joy gets a bath.  7:30 - Joy is in bed.  The Captain has gotten up 3 times.  8:00 - The Captain's still awake.  Joy starts crying.  9:00 - finish wreath.  The Captain's still awake.  Head to sewing room.  9:30 The Captain's asleep.  11:00 - Finally go to bed.  Joy is fitful.  Get up 3 times to put in pacifier.  5:00 - Feeding.

Day 3: 7:00 - The Captain gets up.  I refuse to get out of bed.  He gets into the marshmallows right before Johnny comes home.  Johnny plays with him until 8 am, when Joy will no longer lay (semi) quietly in her crib.  8:00 - shower, Joy starts crying 1/2 way through.  Johnny helps then heads to bed.  8:30 - Joy has a poopy blow out.  While I'm changing her diaper and clothes, The Captain goes poop on the potty by himself.  I know because I help him clean off his toilet seat and his bum.  9:10 - finally done cleaning up just in time to print up Book Club stuff, gather things together and get out the door.  9:30 - leave for book club.  Locked out of the basement in the library.  We were not on the calender, but the librarian lets us in anyway.  11:30 - done with book club.  Chased and chastised The Captain half a dozen times during it.  He had to leave the room once, which is when I realized that he is the cause of most of the chaos and noise.  Yay.  Of course, while he was out of the room (as a punishment) he started venturing up the stairs to the main library.  Which is where he went by himself as I was cleaning up.  12:15 - leave the library.  Go home, eat lunch.  1:30 - Lay down for nap.  Feed Joy in an attempt to have her join us.  She doesn't.  2:00 - Wake up Johnny, as requested.  Pass off the baby, take a nap.  4:00 - wake up to The Captain crying.  He wet the bed and is horribly upset.  I finally convince him it's okay and he's not in trouble and remind him that we get to make cookies cause he went poop in the potty.  Let Daddy make The Captain's choice of cookies while I make dinner (and make cookie making go smoothly).  5:15 - Eat dinner.  Eat cookies.  6:00 - Finish Cars.  Daddy goes to work.  Start bedtime.  7:00 - The Captain's in bed.  Joy's acting tired.  Change her and feed her.  The Captain gets out of bed to eat a cookie.  7:30 - Joy's in bed.  The Captain's back in bed.  8:00 - The Captain's been out of bed 2 times and is still pretty loud.  Joy starts sobbing uncontrollably.  Take her out.  Strip her down.  Find no reason why she should be hysterical.  Go in basement to cool her off and download pictures.  Come upstairs to find The Captain out of bed.  9:00 - The Captain's in my room, in my bed.  Swaddle the baby, go put the nightly poop/pee laundry in the dryer.  Go upstairs.  The Captain's turned on the lights in my room.  Put him back in his bed with door closed.  9:45 - Both kids asleep.  Finally.

I didn't include dishes and garbages and diaper pail changing, or getting the mail, and I did all those things, too.  And you wouldn't think getting the mail would be such a big deal, but the storm door on our front door is stuck.  I'm not sure what happened, but the dead bolt has been pushed out and won't go back into the door enough to let it open.  Johnny was going to fix it, but then he got the call about the plant . . . so it currently doesn't have a handle and is on the To Do list.  This means I have to get the mail through the garage and the front yard.  I forget to do it until it's dark and the ground is frozen and I'm in my slippers.

Did I also mention that in addition to all this we also have a mouse in our pantry?  I was supposed to use today to clean up the kitchen, clean the fridge, the walls, the table, and organize all my food into the plastic containers we got.  I did not do that.  I will be lucky if I have the energy to maintain slightly less than the status quo.  And it's really hard to spend the day out of the house when it's freezing outside and you're potty training.  Just saying.  This has been hard.  And this week will be more of the week from hell.  I will probably be alone at church tomorrow, oh, and my seminary lessons aren't done yet.