Where we Have Been Part 2

Once I drop kids off, I have 6 hours.  Assuming no one is sick or has a dentist appointment etc, I have 6 hours to do it all.  Everything from clean house to carry on a conversation with my husband.  Our after school time is so chaotic that even supper needs to be almost finished. Some days go well, and others seem to get consumed by errands or paperwork. Regardless, the time arrives to do the after school pickup.  When Brianna was homeschooled and the twins were off on Fridays, I seemed to have a better balance of individual attention.  This year, I seem to be racing to fill every one's emotional cups in the few short hours between pickup and bedtime.  It is hard to hear four conversations at once and just proves our minister's evolution theory- I don't have 8 arms or 4 sets of ears.  This particular afternoon, Brianna heads into the primary center to meet her tutor and the rest of us head to the library.  I really do love were I live.  While the rest of the world may claim to be handicap accessible, it rarely is.  We are blessed with a beautiful library with true handicap entrances and a family bathroom- heaven.  The holiday season was already beginning and we needed to kill time before taking Hadley to meet Brian for a chorus concert at the tree lighting.  We looked at books while Jack insisted we needed a video.  Videos from the library are not a good fit for us.  While book fines are usually overlooked or can be paid back in canned food, video fines add up at a dollar a day and we are terrible about returning them.  Jack responded by laying in the library foyer and screaming.  I hoped the fact that he was in the doorway and the door was hitting against him might make a difference, but only after we stepped over him and headed to the car did he finally make his act a traveling show.  By the time we got to Ms. Sullivan's, I was ready to string him up.  He responded by rearranging their rockers on the porch and seeing if their rain spout was "really attached."  Whew!  Get everyone back in the car and drop Hadley with Brian.  It is now dark as we head for home.  Rudolph plays on the car DVD and Brianna zones into her own ipod world.  One would think this might mean a few minutes of peace, but shortly outside of town, the smell hits. The smell that only means one thing- poop.  Hadley manages bodily fluids relatively well, but Brianna began gagging.  We were still several minutes from home so I pulled over in a church parking lot to try and clean up a little.  As I lifted Lucy from her car seat, I really didn't have a place to go other than the grass.  Cleaning Lucy in this state is an extreme challenge.  You have to try and contain her hands as well as get clothes off and clean up the rest of her.  It consumes all of your attention.  I was just finishing and putting her back in the car as a car pulls up behind us with blue lights flashing.  The sheriff steps out and approaches the car to find out what is going on.  To Brianna's pure horror, I told the truth.  Yes, this was an ugly, disgusting mess, but when a law enforcement officer thinks you are beating your child on the ground, I find the truth to be the best option.  I could tell he was unsure of my story, but as he looked in the van, I am sure the smell hit him, and upon seeing Lucy, he smiles and says "I know you.  Can you do an elephant for me Lucy?"  Thankfully, the sheriff is married to the director of special education for Allen County and it is a small town.