Headless Chicken Running

Why do children whine?  Where do they learn it from?  Connor has hit a whiny stage, and I have to say, it's driving me mad.  Is there anything more annoying than that sweet little voice you love so much transforming into a long, drawn-out, screechy wail of "aeeehhh"?  I think not.  There are few things that try my patience more, and I really want to know where he gets it from.  How do kids know that this is one of their most powerful annoyance weapons?  Are they born with this ability?  Mercy.

We had a bad day yesterday, complete with whining.  Okay, here was the supposed layout for the day:

6 get up, work out

630 shower and breakfast and Book reading

7  begin Honey Spice Bread for the knitting girls coming over this afternoon

8 go into village to buy meat, as there is none in the house and we will go hungry for lunch if it isn't done before Justin goes to teach at 930

9 return with arms laden with protein and pull the bread out of the oven.  As it is a new recipe, have Justin taste-test it before serving it to the knitters

930-12  study Chinese, wash dishes, do laundry, get beautified, make lunch, check emails, practice guitar, make bed...all the usual stuff 

12 eat lunch with Connor, do lunch dishes, prepare for girls

1 girls come, we knit

3 go teach a class

5 come home and make dinner

REST

So that was the plan.  Here's what actually happened:

6 the alarm went off.  I rolled back over

715 actually got out of bed, worked out, took a shower, had breakfast

830 out the door to the meat market where I found chicken and beef (hurray!  that's always a crapshoot), stopped at the Meek shop (so nicknamed because they are the kindest folks around and we were talking about Moses...anyway, it's a general store and we love them) to pick up juice for the students, then the veggie shop to get eggs for the bread

915 home again, home again, jiggety jig.  started bread, was short on milk, Justin ran out to get some before class

930 Connor grabs the measuring cup full of milk off of the counter, which he knows he isn't allowed to do, and spills it all over himself.  Leave mixing bowl for a brief changing-clothes break and starting-milky-laundry break.  Back to bread, get it in the oven, fervently hope that it's okay since my taste-tester has left for class 

1030 doing dishes, Connor snacking on raisins, which he picks up and dumps all over the floor.  spend 10 minutes searching out the last of them from behind furniture and in corners, discuss being careful with things in a serious voice with Connor, finish dishes and read Book

11 sit down to answer emails from family so they don't worry that we're dead (this is not an exaggeration).  Connor spills the raisins again, resulting in another exploration of the living room and another talking-to, followed by a "no more raisins today" edict.

1145 spazz out because not beautified, no lunch being fixed, need to hang up milky laundry,have to glaze the bread (which smells heavenly, so I'm going on a leap of faith that it tastes as good as it smells), Chinese are almost always 30 minutes early and there's no way I'm gonna get everything done, haven't even opened my Hanzi (Chinese characters) book yet...

1215 somehow beautified, bread glazed, and sitting down to eat with Connor.  No idea how this happened

1230 ready for the first knitters afternoon.  House perfect (enough, anyway), I'm dressed, laundry is hung up, Connor's finishing his last bites of chicken (thankfully not one of his epic eating battles), incense is lit and smelling lovely.  Waiting for knock at door

1  no girls

115 no girls.  Grading quizzes while I wait

120  Aha!  Girls are trying to buy yarn on campus, need to know where to go.  I potty Connor, socks and shoes him, throw a jacket on him, and hustle outside to meet them.

130-3 Girls are absolute dolls.  Never spent time outside of class with these four before, and they're sweeties.  Lucky is more blunt than most Chinese, which is a hoot, Joy is very soft-spoken and always smiling, Linda couldn't knit a stitch if her life depended on it but wants to be friends, so she's trying her best, and Kitty is an absolute whiz with knitting needles in her hands, although her English is probably the worst of the group

320 teach class, (dropping an extra loaf of the honey spice bread off at the meek store -- they love us, too!) class goes really well, love my students today

5 home again, make dinner

6 finally -- finally -- sit down...then study Hanzi and practice guitar

So, not a bad day, I guess, just ridiculously busy.  And, if I'd put in all the times Connor whined, this would have been much, much longer.  Maybe a day of frustration and headless chicken running would be more apt.  Hmm.