The three ibuprofen headache

Grandma and I decided to bag King Richard's Faire, which felt heroic (the drive with three boys in the back of the car and the expense) and go to a local pumpkin festival today. Or I should say quasi-local -- it actually took about 45 minutes to get there when I wound up driving through the quaint little New England downtown area where the festival was being held and getting majorly held up in traffic by multiple policemen. Then we circled back around a huge circumference to find a place to park (thinking ahead for easy getaway, at least).

We were only a few minutes into the drive when the first "when are we gonna get there" erupted. The stroller was in the wayback of the car so all three boys were lined up side by side in the back. There was much jostling, arguing, touching, and a noisy electronic game. Grandma and I both commented numerous times that we were glad to make the shorter trip today!

After walking around for 15 minutes, I could not deny that I had a headache. Often times, on work days, I try to make it to noon without taking any pharmaceuticals. Sadly though, either because of the stressful nature of my j.o.b., or maybe it's that I stare at a computer screen for most of the day, I rarely make it through a day without ibuprofen. Today was a three-pill day.

A woman overheard me saying I had a headache and came up to me, grabbed my hand and pressed the pressure point between my thumb and first finger, telling me it was "natural headache relief." The man standing beside me at the pumpkin catapult said, "oh, a traveling healer." I giggled. Ultimately, my headache subsided, but today I do not know if it was my continued pressure on this spot or the drugs. The friendly man suggested trying the natural remedy prior to taking any drugs next time around. Check.

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My youngest was the pumpkin catapult hero -- his pumpkin hit one of the targets in the pond -- the crowd clapped, horns blew, and he impressed his little friends that he had run into from school. He also got a prize. I may write a column about this since it was a sore spot with his two older brothers, whose pumpkins, while still making big splashes, fell short of the innertube-scarecrow marks. They both groused about how "everyone likes him better than us" and "he never shares" since of course he was relishing his prize (a mini-monster truck) for the first five minutes after he chose it. My older two sulked like miniature teenagers up until the time we saw the stunt bike demonstration when even they were impressed, at which point my youngest was clearly ready for a nap (after having had a tantrum over the fried oreos not really being oreos as he knows them) -- he needed to be held in my arms for the duration of the show. So we left.

Youngest fell asleep on the way home, and I managed to carry him in and tuck him into bed without waking him, where he stayed for most of the afternoon. The Bigs went to our backyard neighbors' house and jumped on their trampoline for hours. I tried to take a nap but a friend called and I decided to have a cup of coffee instead.

Now I am exhausted, but thankfully do not have a headache, and had enough of a mental break that I am not counting down the time until bedtime...not really, anyway...