Dream a little dream

I love dreams. I even appreciate bad dreams. I love trying to figure out what they mean, what my subconscious is trying to express. When I was about to leave to live in China, I had a dream for each member of my family (including the cat) in which something bad happened to them. I realized that although I was excited to be going, I was anxious about going so far from my family for so long, and knew how helpless I would be so far away if something should happen to them. Then there's a recurring dream (really, a TYPE of dream) I have when my life is getting a bit hectic and out of control: I dream I'm back in school, sometimes college, sometimes high school, and I'm either late for a test, unprepared for a test, can't FIND where I'm supposed to take the test, or realize I have not even attended that class all semester. Oh, and another "favorite" dream: when in real life I need to pee really, REALLY bad, and I do in my dream too...but in my dream, I'm looking, looking for a toilet, and I'm always out somewhere, not at home, and when I finally find the public restrooms, they're either all full, or all FILTHY.

Yesterday after Leo brought the girls back from the doctor, he went to the store to pick up some things we needed. He really had no choice but to leave me, still sick, with two sick kids. I decided to try to put Aislinn down to sleep, as it was about her bedtime anyway (and Leo at least did feed them before heading out again). As I was nursing her, I heard Audrey cry out from her sickbed on the loveseat in the living room, "Mama!!!" I'm used to her being a bit of a drama queen sometimes, but I got up, picked up Aislinn, and made my way through the rubble of the house into the living room.

"Mama, I have to go potty, and you need to hold my popsicle so it doesn't drip!"

Grin. OK. So I grab the popsicle (one of those electrolyte thingies) and she makes a beeline for the bathroom. She REALLY has to go. And then I hear her start to cry, and I realize, she's had An Accident.

Sigh. Aislinn is whining to go back to bed. My fever is heading back up. All I want to do is lie down and nap myself. But motherhood calls. I set Aislinn down in the safety of the gated living room, and as she screams, I get in the bathroom and strip Audrey's lower half. There is a huge puddle of yellow on the floor. She is crying, upset, no matter how much I reassure her it's ok, she's sick, she's been lying down all day and not gotten up to potty much ("But MOM, I'm in KINDERGARTEN!!!"). I throw her clothes in the sink for Leo to deal with (bet me: they're still there as I write), get some cleaning supplies in the kitchen, run back to the bathroom, and rejoice at least in the fact that, YAY! I have TILE! on my bathroom floor! I am not hopelessly trying to clean up urine from carpet like I would have been a week ago! I clean it up, get clean clothes for Audrey, and carry Aislinn back to bed.

Last night I dreamed that five-year-old Audrey said to us, while her daddy was holding her, "My water broke!"

Yeah, I think I'm getting way too anxious over mrtl's impending labor.