For the Love of Milk

My kids drink milk like it's going out of style. Inara all but throws her sippy if she finds anything other than milk in it most of the time. Jadzia, thankfully, has started to occasionally drink water and juice but her drink of choice is still milk. Since we don't have the room or the money to keep a cow on hand, we get WIC to help feed the milk addicts. Well today was our WIC appointment and I asked myself many times if it was all worth it.

The kids were great when we first got there. Anya had eaten right before we left the house so she was happy and chattery. Jadzia and Inara were initially engrossed in the movie they had playing - which oddly enough was one of the many Land Before Time sequels. After fifteen minutes or so, they both had gotten up to play with the other kids. They don't go to daycare so they don't have constant interaction with other children. Despite that, they've developed into pretty good and social kids. Jadzia joined the game they were playing which seemed to be a cross between Hide and Go Seek and Tag. Inara watch from a safe distance until she found some smaller children to go join.

And then we waited.

If you've ever been on WIC, you'll know that there is a lot of waiting involved. Today was a recertification appointment which meant it was even longer than normal. First they had to check all the paperwork. They noticed the kids' shot records were not current and Anya's was non-existent but didn't press me on it.

And then we waited.

Next they needed to take the kids' measurements. I think they either miswrote, mistyped or mismeasured Jadzia because unless my own measuring tape is labeled wrong, there is no way she's almost 46 inches tall. According to WIC she was 45.875 inches tall - according to mine she is more like 41.875 inches tall. As a result, her growth chart with WIC now looks VERY strange. She was 39 lbs. Inara measured 33.25 inches tall and 27.5 lbs. Anya is 26.75 inches and 15.5 lbs. Anya did not want to be measured and kept pointing her toes out so they couldn't put the board against the flat of her foot.

After the measuring we talked to WIC lady #1 who asked if we had any questions or problems that they could help with. She double checked all my answers to the nutrition surveys about the kids. Due to Jadzia's miscalculated height she suggested giving her some extra calories to help the weight balance the inches. I can't wait for our next appointment when Jadzia "shrinks" probably.

Meanwhile Jadzia and Inara were playing happily with other kids. I kept looking up to keep an eye on them but they were doing well and having a grand time.

And then we waited.

WIC lady # 2 called us over to make sure we got the right checks for the ages and feeding tendencies of the kids. She congratulated me on breastfeeding Anya for 6 months and suggested adding in more baby food to Anya's diet since she's now 6 months old.

By this time Anya was hungry and tired. She was fussing as we talked to the WIC lady and between her and trying to keep my third eye on the other two; I didn't hear most of what she said. There was a lot of smiling and nodding and saying "yeah".

And then we waited.

I attempted to feed Anya but she wouldn't have it. I think she has a personal objection to being covered up to feed. I can't say I blame her, I wouldn't want something on my head either. But, I also didn't want to flash a room full of children in order to feed her either. Of course even if I'd removed the cover, she was so far gone at that point that I don't think she would have eaten anyway. When I gave up on that, I looked up and spotted Jadzia easily but didn't see Inara anywhere. For a few brief seconds I had no idea where she was and was about to run down the hall looking in every room in the building. As it turned out, she'd walked behind a partition they had in the room and had no idea she was "lost", albeit briefly.

I started pacing the room trying to sooth Anya while we waited. Inara was then being chased and pulled on by a boy which was very upsetting to her. I could see the happy day falling down around me at that point. I rescued Inara to find she had "his" penny. Prying said penny from her grasp was a feat fit for the jaws of life, or at least a heavy duty tool. As soon as the penny left her little hand the crying and screaming started. Which is about the time they called me up to sign out. I did so quickly and snatched everything up. As soon as I put Anya in her carseat she resumed crying so I had a tantruming toddler on one side and a crying infant on the other. Jadzia looked on helpless. First I tried to hold Inara's hand to walk her out but her knees folded and she dropped to the ground; refusing to walk. After a few more failed attempt to get her to walk, I heaved her up and under my arms like a sack of potatoes - a screaming and flailing sack of potatoes. We got halfway out the building before Inara calmed down enough to walk on her own the rest of the way to the car.

When I left this morning, I had every intention of going to the appointment, then the post office, then the commissary. I was trying to be efficient by doing all the errands in one shot. We did make it to the post office but I knew Anya would not make it through a commissary trip so we came home. Commissary tomorrow...maybe.