I’m frightened.

No, I’m scared.

Better yet, I’m petrified.

It’s Tuesday night, we’re only two days into summer, and I really think this parenting thing is going to kick my butt. Which is quite ridiculous since I have been doing it NON-STOP for 9 ½ years. How did I manage to get four daughters, and no clue? Don’t answer that.

So here I sit reminiscing about a day that went oooooooh so bad, and thinking how in the world can I prevent this from happening again.

I woke up optimistic about actually getting something done today. I promptly brushed 4 heads of hair and instructed my kiddos to put on swimsuits for classes later. You’re probably thinking I should have brushed 5 heads of hair since I have four girls and my own head. 4 + 1 = 5. You’re so smart. But actually, in Woo World, you would be wrong because I didn’t brush my hair. Problem number 1.

But no worries, I didn’t realize it was a problem, because I didn’t know I didn’t brush my hair. So I packed up my kids, and we were off to Wal-Mart (every mother’s dream outing with 4 kids) because we needed to buy snacks for Shelbi’s basketball game later. The 3 year old screams the entire time we are in the store, chews at least 4 pieces of citrus flavored Bubblicious, and takes her clothes off in the middle of the Martha Stewart Crafting/ vacuum section. Not good.

So, for obvious reasons, we quickly leave Wal-Mart just in time for a torrential downpour. No worries. We are in our swimsuits, and on our way to swimming classes. Perfect. Only they generally don’t have outdoor swimming lessons during thunderstorms. Damn it.

Now what do we do? The children are screaming bloody murder, and their eyes are rolling to the backs of their heads from “starvation”. Hmmmm. Let’s call Daddy. I’m sure he’s missing the children by now.

We meet that cute fella for lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and I let the children loose on him. Poor guy He didn’t know what hit him. But, he took it. All the screaming, complaining, bathroom trips, and crazy haired wives with no make-up, he took it. Not only did he take it, he smiled while he took it. Gotta love that man.

After we got rid of Daddy (or was it the other way around), we went home, took naps, cleaned up throw up, yelled and screamed at one another, made some tasty popsicles, got ready for swim lessons again (long story), got dressed for basketball, swam, played, ate again, and went to bed.

Ufffffff. I’m tired just thinking about it. So what did we learn today kiddos? That when life gives you lemons, . . . . . .you should make Coconut Popsicles. It’ll at least give you the strength to do it again tomorrow.

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We actually made two different types of popsicles. The first totally creamy and delicious, Coconut Popsicles. To the second batch we added fresh pineapple for a Pina Colada Twist. Soooooo good. I can’t decide which is my favorite, but you can let your tastebuds be the judge.

*Don’t worry if you don’t have popsicle molds. Just find small plastic containers (used pudding cups or applesauce cups work well), fill with popsicle mixture, cover with Reynolds wrap, poke a small hole in the center) insert a popsicle stick, and freeze. No popsicle sticks? No problem. Because these popsicles are made with lowfat milk, they freeze soft enough to be eaten with a spoon. So now, you have NO EXCUSES!

Coconut Popsicles

Ingredients:

7 oz. coconut milk

7 oz. low fat milk (I used 1%)

1 tsp vanilla

¼ c. fat free sweetened condensed milk

Mix coconut milk, low fat milk, vanilla and condensed milk in a bowl. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze for about 4 hours. Enjoy.

Pina Colada Popsicles

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups fresh pineapple pureed in blender

½ can (about 7 oz.) coconut milk

½ cup fat free sweetened condensed milk

½ cup water

In a blender, mix pineapple, coconut milk, condensed milk and water. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze for about 4 hours. Enjoy.