"Quick! Send in the reinforcement - she's gonna blow!"

Oh yeah - that pretty much sums up my day.

The prince was in rare tantrum mode today - everything became a full-blown tantrum. By the 10th, or was it the 12th or 14th - I gave up counting - I picked up my cell phone, punched the one number I knew would connect me to the other person who was responsible for creating these children and spit out the first words that come to my mind: "I hate you!" I don't, of course, but at that moment I was hating her for the decision to go to school. I was hating her for not being here when I desperately needed her here. I was hating her for having a life while I was here, listening to children scream at me, for me and to me.

I rattled off the stuff that had just recently happened and when she, in all her wisdom, tried to point out the good stuff I said "I have to go now. I have nothing nice to say." Word to the wise: never, ever, ever try to point out the times when the children behave when one person is in the throes of meltdown hell.

About 15 minutes later my phone rang, it was D's sister asking if it would be ok if she stopped by for a while since she had to be on this end of town anyway. Would it be ok? YES YES YES!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!! I am normally not one to say "I need help!" but after the day I had, and the tears I had cried in frustration, panic, pity, loneliness, sadness, and regret I eagerly agreed to have the door open.

Ten minutes later my cell phone rings and I can see from the caller display that it's D. I pick up and say "Called in the reinforcements, eh?" She said "Yeah - figured I'd better." Smart woman.

Linda and come over and it was heaven on earth for a while. She and the prince locked themselves away in his room (with intructions from the prince for me to "Go in the other room, please." Yeah - I'd had enough of him, too.) and played. I nursed and rocked the princess and got her down, folded a load of laundry and returned a call to my sister. The princess awoke - I nursed her back to sleep.

Then the dreaded time arrived. Linda needed to leave. NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Ok, we're calm, the baby is sleeping, the boy is doing better. I took a deep breath, thanked her for rescuing me and said good-bye.

I swear the princess heard the click of the lock on the front door. *sigh* Off and running again. Get her quieted down, run the bath for the prince, quiet down the baby again, get the prince in the tub, nurse the baby, return to the bathroom to wash the prince's hair - stop mid wash to go back to baby. Pick baby up and bring her to the bathroom. Finish washing hair, try to convince the princess why playing with the potty chair is not a good idea, rinse the prince, try to convince him to leave the tub, give up because I can't face another tantrum, check email with baby on my lap, return to bathroom to find prince squeezing out the last few drops of the NEW bottle of baby wash, sigh deeply, pick boy up out of tub, dry, clean up tub, dress boy, hold now crying baby, turn on TV and get boy a snack, take princess back to her room to attempt putting her back down. No dice. Give up and take baby back to livingroom with me.

Ten minutes later D arrives home. Thank God!

This day sucked.