No Van, Stuck at Home, Embarassing Playdate

I have been dreading today all week. We had to bring our van into the garage last night as it has been running funny. That means being stuck in the house all day, which can sometimes be a disaster with Akila. I invited my friend, Janelle and a few of her kids, to stop over for lunch and a play date.

Akila was having a pretty mellow morning, which changed after Janelle, Katelynn and Malachai arrived. She has played nicely with Katelynn, who is 6, on some other occasions. Today, she was horrifically mean to Katelynn, from the minute they arrived until they left. It was a nightmare. Emily also stopped by as she and Jesse returned this week from their honeymoon. No matter, it was nearly 3 hours of non-stop issues, with Akila. She was screaming hateful things to Katelynn, telling her to shut up, and many other things. It was embarrassing, even though I know that Janelle is non-judging and very understanding- it is still not fun.

All this when I was coming off a good day. Yesterday, I had an hour and a half to run errands with no kids. My friend DeDe had my boys, and Akila had a program at the same time as Imani's reading program. It was peaceful.

When I arrived home from picking up the girls, there was a package on the steps waiting for me. It was a rubbermaid container that had a journal, pens, bottle of tea, trail mix, brownie, stress-relief shower gel, a book called "Story People" and a nice card with some very encouraging words, - and no signature. Whoever the little elf out there is, I would like to thank you!!! It was a very sweet thing, which really brightened my day.

The kids were very excited about the mystery package. Akila was telling people I had a secret admirer. This was upsetting Imani big time, which I could not figure out. When I was digging, I learned it was because Imani thought it was from another man. I told her it was from a woman, and then she thought it was really cool. Akila called Michael to tell him about it, and Imani kept screaming in the background to tell him it was not from a man. This was very important to her. Cute. Again, thank you whoever you are!!

Update: It is going to cost $3,000 to fix our 10 year old minivan, pray for us as we try to figure out what to do. Fix it, or jump ship. UGH!!