The other day, my 6-going-on-16 year old would not stop grabbing beloved items from her little sister and older brother, and running away with them and hiding them.

When I scolded her for it, she shot withering insults at me, like “I feel like I want to side-kick you!” (even when mad, she still is an impressive karate student) and “fine, if you make me go to my room then IIII’m never going to give you any of my drawings or paintings!!” (and while that insult is pretty cute and not particularly worrisome, I like that she is confident enough in her artistic skills that she has decided promising not to give me a picture is just as punishing as a side kick to the thigh.)

So while all THAT was going on all day, her older brother developed a headache, then a stomach ache, and soon was on his way to the fever that was the bane of his every-other-week for years when he was small, but that comes on almost never any more.

Except it came on while all this was going on, of course.

And while I tended to Yehuda and helped him to feel comfortable, to lie down, and to eat a little, Racheli went into full-jealous rage mode, which then brings us back to paragraph one of this blog (go ahead, I’ll wait.)

And while all THAT was going on, little Esther was alternately screaming as Racheli grabbed her beloved playdough or whatever, begging to be held, and/or nagging me to “say sorry to Racheli” – my little Taurus, the peacemaker.

And while all THAT was going on, Yehuda in his dizzy feverish daze got to the toilet in time to pee (horray! Better than the couch he was lying on!) but missed the bowl for most of it and sprayed half the bathroom. (Horra—ugh.)

And after all THAT had happened, and I finally had gotten them to sleep, and was finally getting to my Target groceries that I hadn’t put away yet and the dishes and food that hadn’t been cleared from the table yet…

I knocked over a bottle of water that LOOKED closed… but wasn’t.

After mopping it up, I decided to write this blog instead get back immediately to the dishes.

Something positive had to come from all this rain…

c/xo,

Sheva (BatSheva Vaknin)

And if you were thinking Racheli was dropping empty threats, think again! Proof-positive of her side-kickiness ability: