Oh! The Places You'll Go!

I don't know about you, but I read a lot of Dr. Seuss. I find Green Eggs and Ham mildly irritating. Daisy Head Maisy is just odd. And I'd pay good money to never read There's a Wocket In My Pocket ever again. However, I really do like Oh! The Places You'll Go. In American Bandstand parlance, "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it." There are ups and there are downs -- and not just one down so you can read it and forget it, but a whole other downbeat section just to say, "No really... sometimes things will seriously suck, but you'll get over it."

I'd never even heard of this book until I had children. Blame it on my slipshod public school education. But it becomes more relevant with each passing day. Case in point...Dr. Seuss' waiting area -- where people are just waiting. Waiting for the phone to ring, for their ship to come in, for a second chance, etc. Today, I too am waiting. Waiting for the antibiotics to kick in, and the fevers to go down, and the vomiting to stop and the happy, smiley faces to return. All three trips have ear infections now, and Tommy has a respiratory infection to boot. They all just feel like laying around without even the energy to be cranky. Tom did stage a silent protest this morning. He woke up first, but the other two were still enjoying some much needed slumber, so I ignored his initial requests for an audience. When I finally gave in, I found him without his pajama pants or a diaper waving his privates around willy nilly (o.k. I snorted a little bit when I wrote that one...I need to get out more). Apparently, he was done with waiting for a clean diaper.

It's tough when everyone is sick like this. It's certainly a perfect set-up for cabin fever. But thankfully these down times are not the norm. As much as I try to stress what a good time there is to be had with four little boys under three, most people just look at me strangely and nod disbelievingly. And I'll admit, had a fortune-teller told me, "Marry this sweet guy and you'll wind up with more kids than you can shake a stick at" I might have run in the opposite direction as fast as I could go. However, now that this is my life, there's nothing in the world I'd take in trade.

Oh! The places you'll go!