Our gerbil's tail skin came off in Zane's hand today. No, I'm not lyin'.

 I CANNOT make this up people!!!!  There is NO way even the best fiction writer could imagine some of the scenerios that occur around here....Fer Real!


Today...THIS happened:


Zane was playing with his little, cute, white, dwarf gerbil and ...... suddenly.....after reaching for "Rex" and accidentally get his tail....THE SKIN OFF HALF OF THE RODENT'S TAIL WAS IN MY SON'S HAND.  


It really was.  It was IN his hand. 


 He screamed!


The look in his EYES however...was OUT of this world.  He was terrified, shocked, surprised, and did I mention terrified?  


Now, THAT FOLKS, is teaching "Life Skills" at it's FINEST!  (correct?) Show me another 7 yr old that got experience and training in trauma-related gerbil skillz today!!! (right?)


((all heck was breakin' loose in the schoolroom...Trey telling Zane, "welp, he lasted longer than usual for us".  Tye saying, "Rat die!  Rat die!".  


Chase came busting through the door, after hearing the mayhem, shocking us all to the point of wetting our pants yelling, "WHAT IS GOING ON?"))


Zane raced across the schoolroom to bring me "the piece of skin" (shuddder)....and....


I....of course...raced to my computer and googled "My Gerbil's Tail Just Fell Off".  (never thought I'd be typing 'that' into 'Google'.  What is UP with my life people??!!!!!)


Surprisingly, this gerbil-tail-thing is not uncommon?!!  eh?!!  


My search resulted in myself and Kiya doing some quick (but turned into long) trauma-care on the TAIL OF A GERBIL.  

THE. TAIL. OF. A. GERBIL.      


Oh. sheesh.  


Eye Roll.   


I could literally see the rest of homeschool flushing down the drain .....  NOTHING else would get accomplished.  The sense of failure started to settle in.  (even though I was saving the friggin' tail of a gerbil!)

But...Yet...Here I am...SAVING the tail.  The gross piece of fur/skin was left in the schoolroom so I could purge it from my memory.  (not happening soon but whateva.)


But. Still. The feeling of failure was setting in.  I tried not to get irritable and just go with the flow of saving the CUSSIN' tail.  

My sweet Kiya is SURELY thinking, "I did NOT sign up for THIS Andrea!!!!"  but she is SO in love with Zane, with his soft-heart that loves all creatures, that even Kiya got on board trying to help me get a band-aid (s) adhered to a bleeding, slick, gross piece of cartlage coming off the end of a rodent.


We had to try everything from papertowel, to toilet paper, to gauze...finally resulting in oodles of bandaids over the whole tail so it would "stick".  Needless to say, we developed some good memories today.  (Thought, I hope she returns tomorrow!!! ha)

 See how happy I look?  But can you sense that the homeschooling hours being wiped from the slate were really bothering me (even though I was trying to focus on being Nurse NightingRodent). laugh


 I felt needed to school today!  Needed too (at least I thought I needed too.)  I was all ready...we were all IN the schoolroom..We were ALL workin'....then BAM! Chaos.

 The cost of the band-aids we used cost more than the gerbil itself I am pretty sure.

 After the tail was bandaged, "Rex" seemed "himself".  Zane, however, was still not okay.  Traumatized and shaking would describe him to a "T".  Now HE is going to have Post-Traumatic-Stress like his Momma!  


(my precious 7 yr old is now better...especially since "Rex" seems to be okay so far...and especially after his big brother, Trey, sat down with him tonight -cuz the little boy was still having fits of tears- and explained that he would not be mad at Zane "if" "Rex" died.  ((Rex is technically Trey's gerbil)) .  


Precious Trey even rubbed Zane's back .... Trey put his left hand up and said, "Zane, this is doing something on purpose."  Then he put his right hand up and said, "This is doing something on total accident. And, you, Zane, are so far on this hand" (and he shook his right hand). A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.)


At one point today I asked Zane, "Is it all worth it buddy? We have alot of problems with smaller animals.  You get so attached then alot of them get sick.  Do you want to keep doin' this kind of stuff?"


Zane sniffed a reply of "Of course. I love it."  Well...that all I need to bandage the next tail, hand-feed the next lizard, buy another fertilized chicken egg online!  smile.


So...and However.


Kiya and I saved the gerbil's tail.  We made Zane happy.  The kids got extra outdoor time cuz school was slammed.  


Chase, Trey, Zane, and Tye did have TaeKwonDo and Chase and Trey had private music lessons today.


Zane learned tons about how to handle emergencies. Had super big brother moments.


Tye and Aven listened to 5+ books on tape while they looked at the book being read....and had some great moments together (pictures at the end of post!)


But. HUGE HMURPF!


****Why do I feel like a failure?****


 (please don't roll your eyes at me. I am not looking or fishing for nice comments like "oh Andrea...I don't know how you even do it at all or ever!" ..... I honestly felt like I failed today. I know my 'normal' is a certain unusual type of controlled-chaos that is different than alot...but I want to go past that right now. )


Was it maybe because I had other plans and I am a control-freak.  That's probably the problem, huh?


I had "history", "Spanish", and "Math" planned.


Then the tail, literally and symbolically, fell off of my day. (and into my hand!)


UGH.


So hard on myself, right? Or did I actually fail?


If I had plans that needed to be done (according to me...not according to any Indiana homeschooling rules or anything) but they completely fell apart...then.....I failed, yes?  


I wasn't organized enough to keep Chase and Trey focused on THEIR work while I tended the gerbil's tail.


I should be more organized so that WHEN the practically predictable yet still unexpected bit of chaos/emergency/divergent event occurres, the kids NOT involved in the chaos/emergency/divergent event CAN STILL SCHOOL.


But I am not that organized and my oldest boys are not focused enough to continue school, alone, without some adult-interaction at some point, ya know?  I mean they are 13 and 10.  They are thinking WAY more about karate, video games, and basketball than dividing fractions, Augustus Caesar, and conjugating Spanish verbs.


(aka: they are normal....smile)


Hmpf.


Thoughts?


Encouragement?  Slap on the face?  Shake me till I get normal?  Tell me I am right?  AM ruining my kids by homeschooling them?????  Egads.  


Well, after "the tail" incident....I did get some fun time with Aven and Tye.


I helped Aven create a "Tea Party" and she "invited" Tye. (I kinda felt like I had to redeem myself after letting school slide...!!)


 Tye ( per my suggestion...I mean...He's a lady's man but still needs coaxing :) went outside and got Aven some lilacs before knocking on the door to arrive at her "Party".


Enjoy the pics...BUT DON'T forget to shake, cajole, encourage, slap, or admit that I am abnormal, normal, ruining, and or helping my children via our daily lives....seriously. 


No comment can be to mean or to nice.  To honest, long, or short!  ( of course. NO phone calls, hate mail, or exploding boxes on my porch please).


Anyways....Welcome to "Aven's Evening Tea Party" ...... Would you like two cubes or three?

"Water" and "Oranges" along with plenty of plastic foods were on the menu.  She cooks like her Momma :)

 Eventually, Daddy (her favorite) was invited.....

 And THEN..."Jo-Jo" the "pirate" AND our new bird, "Icon" was invited....Aven likes to party ;)

After the "Tea Party"....Aven decided to brush up on her "reading skillz"....too cute?!! Yes? 


It's not just me, right?!!


  I heart this girl!  I heart them all ... but.....ya know...she's da baby and she's my girl!

So, ultimately, everything turned out well....'cept that I feel like I could have done better. I think I almost always feel that way and when I don't, I write about it! 

Do you guys feel that way? Is it a universal parenting thing?  Is it evil trying to get us down?  Is it simply part of this amazingly huge task full of heavy responsibility that is parenting????

Maybe tomorrow we WILL get that dang Math, Spanish, and History done.  I am ALL for experiencing learning through life lessons but there is a component of this teacher that does need to see my kids' noses in some books fairly often!

I'll let ya know how "Rex" does overnight....Maybe tomorrow he'll get "Dora" bandaids?!

Andrea...

Looking back on my day thinking, "Seriously?!!"

(my two hunks....aren't they just too cute?!!And, since it's impossible to get pix of my 13 yr old these days I had to post it so you all knew he was still alive and happy and that he has no "tail" issues...snort)