Is this a joke?---#NaBloPoMo

It was the night before July, and I had a bright idea: I know! I'll sign up for the NaBloPoMo July Challenge! Why not? Who needs time to plan? I've got this!

After all, I did the A to Z Challenge in April--during which time, I might add, our two cave boys were home for a week of spring "break".

Yeah, well, spring "break" doesn't hold a candle to summer "vacation" in a special needs household. The truth is, I'm fried. My friends are fried. We're just lucky that the kids are alive by bathtime each night. So...jumping feet first into a blogging challenge when I'm in the middle of back-breaking, mind-numbing insanity?

AM I CRAZY?

Sigh. Okay, perhaps the answer to this question is well established. That being said, I've spent the entire day waffling over whether I'm going to quit recognize my limitations and call it a day. While deliberating, life still happened. It went something like this:

Awake. Drat! No hope of a post yet. Can't consider it. Must shower/dress/transform into hot babe/MAKE COFFEE/take out lame dog who is convalescing/ prepare morning medicines/ dare I hope I can eat my own breakfast--all before "Hits-the-Ground-Running" Numbers 1 and 2 are awake.

Posting before morning agenda did not happen. Are you kidding me? I'm not superwoman.

Younger son saunters down. Medicate him. Throw food in front of him. Older son awake. Prepare his meds and head upstairs to change night diaper, etc. Time to make morning waffles free of gluten, casein, corn, soy, egg and nuts--but not taste! Breakfast done. More medications for older son. Practice dressing skills. Soon, he's at the door freaking out because he's not yet at a mall. No post.

Son-of-a-gun! Are you freaking kidding me? When am I supposed to get this post written?

Take son to educational trip to library. It isn't a mall. Son protests this fact, quietly at first. Decide to teach him the benefits of waiting. He decides to teach me the benefits of a public meltdown. Meltdown spilled outside onto the local canal path. Glorious. It's safe to say that, nope. There was no clicking away any notes on my phone during this time for a post.

Eventually put son in car with intent to go to the mall. Mutter that NONE of this is funny. Exchange short words with low verbal son. Tell him I'm mad. MAD. I'm mad and NOT happy. He starts shouting back at me in colors, as if to say, "Oh yeah? RED!!" Take that, mean mom.

I'm Methodist, but for some reason, at this point in my frustration, I start cursing in my head to patron saints. I think I'm a cussing Catholic. Somehow, the words just feel more fulfilling.

Mall. Carousel. Eight freaking trips on a way-too-fast carousel. Son licks horses. He licks the posts. He dropped his drawers...twice. He spread out on the floor to watch underneath the carousel. He unscrewed five lightbulbs, and he kicked in the door to the center with the hope of seeing the Mother Board (Nirvana!).

Each time, anyone within earshot could hear me say, "You have GOT to be kidding me. What do you think you are doing?? STOP IT!" Yeah...no post created at the mall.

By this point in the day, by this point in the vacation, I'm thinking: who the heck is kidding around? Perhaps I am. I'm likely kidding myself that I'll make it through this challenge at this point in the year. Maybe July is not the month for me.

At the very least, I can now scratch today off my list and corral the cave kids who have been running wild outside my cave door for the past few minutes.

Happy summer to all of you. If you don't hear from me any time soon, send in reinforcements. :)

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It's NaBloPoMo Challenge time, and I'm blogging my way through the month of July...er...I think.