Long day

Today seems to have been an extremely long day, and I didn't even teach today. I took a day off from school today to take our foster children to Lansing for allergy testing with Nicole. We didn't have to leave till about 8:30, and I had an IEP scheduled for 7:30 so I was able to go to that. The day didn't start out the greatest, I got almost to the door at school around 7, only to realize I didn't have my school keys. So Gwen and I went the big long drive back to the house to get them (approximately 3 blocks). We got back to school and then as I was going over things with my sub I knocked my favorite Mickey Mouse coffee mug onto the floor breaking it beyond repair. This day was not shaping up too well. Well the IEP was quick and we got headed out on time for Lansing. We got to the doctor's on time too. So then allergy testing commenced and things got pretty difficult. For a 2 year old M is extremely strong, or as an almost 40 yr old this dad is getting weak. So we battled that for about 10-15 minutes. He actually did a lot better than I expected. E must have done okay too, I didn't hear too much screaming from her room. Both made out pretty well. E has some fish/shellfish/shrimp allergy issues and M seems to be just environmental/seasonal as he didn't test positive for anything specific but the doctor wants him to start on Zyrtec, and E too. So not too bad. Then we took them shopping and got M a tractor and E a new baby. They picked them out. We got some lunch and headed home. Nicole then made the brilliant decision that M needed a haircut. Even though when she took him the last time it took 3 trips to get the haircut completed. He doesn't like getting his haircut and won't sit still. Nicole's rationale for doing this today, "well you're with him today," referring to me. Great, I just went a couple rounds with him this morning getting testing done now you want me to battle a few more so he can get his haircut? Didn't seem like a great idea but I went anyway. Sure enough, battle royale ensued in the barber's chair. Basically I was done in by a 2 year old, though he is almost 3. We almost got through it but I needed to go pick up the kids from school so we decided to take a break and try to finish later. Good decision. After picking up the rest of the kids, getting Nicole on the road to her meeting in Westland (or wherever she was going tonight), we headed back to finish the haircut. I don't know what happened to M after the first go around but he was a totally different kid when we got back there. No kicking or screaming when I got him out of the car, he even said go see Kelly, as we walked to the door. He started playing with the toys as we waited our turn. He picked his toys help when it was his turn and walked, on his own to the chair. He waited for me to sit down, jumped up into my lap and sat pretty still and allowed Kelly to finish what she had started earlier in the afternoon. (Of course there was a 2nd Tootsie Roll Pop involved.) After all of this I still had to go to football practice. I was already exhausted. Regardless, I have made it through my day, quite tired, and the Tigers are winning, so it was a good day. Now if I can just stay awake long enough to finish watching the game.