Cy turns 7: Part 1

Cy's birthday ended up being WAY more hectic than I thought it would be.  Not only was it his birthday, but he also had a soccer game AND it was the first day of General Conference (LOVE GC.  It seriously fills my soul and helps me charter the course of my life through the next 6 months until we have it again).  I thought everything would move along pretty smoothly.  I was prepped and prepared for everything, or so I thought....

On Wednesday, Dave had 2 surprise root canals that were started.  They told him he needed to come back on Saturday to finish the job.  His first appointment was scheduled during the soccer game which I was seriously stressing about.  We have to park pretty far away from where the games are held and I was trying to figure out how to pack 3 chairs, an umbrella, an umbrella stand, a diaper bag, 4 water bottles and 3 kids across 2 parking lots and 4 soccer fields BY MYSELF when Dave called to tell me that his appointment had been moved to first thing in the morning.  HALLELUJAH!  The appointment was going to take place during the first session of GC, but I figured that wouldn't be a problem.  I had been very proactive and made Conference Packets for Cy and Princess.  I had printed up pages of Conference Bingo, bought M&M's and Skittles for bingo markers, and bought prizes for the winners.

I imagined a serene enjoyable experience watching conference.  I envisioned Cy and Princess happily playing Bingo and coloring pages out of their packets, the Beast quietly stacking his blocks and playing with his toys while I sat on the couch, folding laundry, absorbing the good Word of God.

I was wrong.

Perhaps, I was being a bit naive.  Perhaps, starting out the day with sugar laden donuts (Cy's breakfast of choice) wasn't the best idea I've ever had. 

You can read what the Beast did during the first session of Conference here.  Cy and Princess weren't much better.  They had spent the half an hour prior to Conference starting, coloring in their coloring books so that by the time Conference actually started they were stir crazy and hyper.  Oh, SO hyper.  The sugar from the donuts had kicked in ten-fold by then.  Add onto that the excitement of Cy's birthday and these two were LITERALLY bouncing off the couch and the walls. 

I solved this problem by breaking out the Conference Packets and the Conference Bingo.  I told the kids they could eat their candy markers once they had won a round of Bingo AND they also got to pick a candy treat out of a grab bag when they won.   What?  You're supposed to fight sugar with sugar, right?!?!  Nothing like the hair of the dog that bit ya...if ya know what I mean.  Conference Bingo was a SUCCESS (except for the parts when the Beast would kick their boards, displacing all of their markers, and take off with the bag full of their candy markers "laughing all the way, ha ha ha!").

In an effort to keep the Beast occupied I gave him his own bag of candy to munch on, but that wasn't good enough.  Oh no.  The Beast had to have whatever the other two had and he had to have it NOW!

After each winning a game of Bingo and picking their prizes the kids wanted to start coloring their Conference Packets.  Cy got right to work and was left alone to color in peace.  Princess was not so lucky.  You see, she had picked a Ring Pop out of the grab bag as her Bingo prize.  The Beast wanted a Ring Pop REALLY bad.  I wouldn't give him one.  I didn't think he needed anymore sugar than what he already had.  When he realized that I wasn't going to budge the Beast followed Princess around screaming at her like a banshee and tormenting her mercilessly.  He kept stealing her crayons, ripping her papers out of her hands, pulling her hair and trying to snatch the Ring Pop right out of her mouth.  She tried to seek safety at the kitchen table to no avail.

She finally finished the Ring Pop and being the "generous" sister that she is, she gave the Beast the plastic part of the Ring Pop.  The Beast was thrilled!  He popped that plastic in his mouth, stopped, ripped it out, looked at it, noticed the candy was gone, gave Princess the dirtiest look an almost 2 year old can muster (he's actually pretty good at the dirty looks.  My sister-in-law Teri recently told Dave, "I'm not too comfortable with the looks that the Beast is giving me."  Ya, he can be pretty intimidating.), threw the plastic part on the floor and then proceeded to scream and cry for the last 20 minutes of Conference. 

So much for absorbing the good Word of God. 

To be continued......



Coming up next in the Cy turns 7 Series:

Lunch, Alarms, and a Present...Oh My!