We made it.. sort of.

Well, the snow is still here, making the side roads out horrible, but I needed to get to the Dr. today.
So, I bundled up the kids and packed Tabby's DVD player and Jacob's copy of Pinocchio, some books, and headed out.
I would not have made it down the driveway had it not been for Matthew leaving at the same time and helping out. He taught me the van has the ability to switch to a manual transmission for the lower gears.. and boy, did I need them.
Ice scares me, hard-packed snow scares me... a diminishing paycheck scares me.
The kids needed to go back to school a week and a half ago. Even with their medicine they are craving the routine, although not craving their peers so much. Tabby did bump into a fellow 1st grader at the store and gave him a hug.. but I think that after almost 4 weeks of being out of school she would have latched on to anything related to school. They ask why they aren't going to school. To them, we live only a few short roads away.. they don't understand about school closures.
Today at the Dr. they were really great, although shy. It was odd to me to have them there, since not even Matthew has ever accompanied me to this Dr. and I've seen him for over a year.
My shoulder feels better, and my back. All of this business with the snow, taking care of the kids and missing work.. it takes a toll.
I phoned the surveyor this morning to let him know I would be out until a certain time and to warn him the neighbors have strung a line on their assumed property line. I didn't want him thinking we had done it. He informed us they would probably not be out today, since they are going to go do more research at the county courthouse before confirming their lines. Wow, what a mess this has turned out to be.
When we came home from Bi-Lo and the Dr. I was able to steer into the driveway and up into my normal space carefully but easily. The kiddos and I had ravioli for lunch and I made hamburger helper for dinner. Short quick meals requiring minimal effort, but I was exhausted for some reason. being cooped up like this is wearing. I did some laundry and other chores, but still found myself taking a nap with the kids.
Jacob had a bad day, and coming off a previous bad day makes it worse. He had acted up in Bi-Lo and had nearly fell into oncoming lane traffic int he parking lot by goofing off, so when we arrived home I asked him to lay down in his bed while I made lunch.
When I went to go let him out, he had the spray bottle of carpet cleaner and had soaked his wall, mini trampoline, and the carpet was saturated. Mistakenly, I had left it in there yesterday after doing a spot cleaning and had intended to do another round but had forgotten... imagine that.
So, once again my immature 7 1/2 year old proves to me I have to be better at thinking a few steps ahead. The room was a cloud of cleaning chemical smell, so I made him stay beside me for the next 4 hours or so. He was not happy with it, but I wasn't sure what else to do. The air was so thick in his room I almost fainted, it is a wonder he didn't really hurt himself.
He was doing better for a week, but now I feel like we are back on this down slope. There is nothing more infuriating than trying to tell someone that something they did was very dangerous and having them stare off into space and ignore you. Ah, I have so much to learn. Tomorrow I'm finishing the book Matthew and I have been studying on Reactive Attachment Disorder.
Thursday is Jacob's second appointment with his new psychiatrist. This will be his first full-fledged session. I am really putting a lot of hope in finding some sort of meeting ground that will resolve his behaviors and still satisfy our ability to parent and keep him safe.
Tomorrow we will have yet another day of no getting out. Hopefully the kids will want to go make more snow angels. :-)