Clicker Counter

A few weeks ago, during a particularly gruesome quadruple screaming jag, it occurred to me that it would amuse me to know how many times a day I hear the word "mommy."

I told some friends about it on a walk and we all agreed that you could never keep track for an entire day. You'd have to hire someone just to count. Unless... Unless! Unless, you had one of those awesome little things that official people hold at airports and concerts and sporting events? The little clicky things. You know how they click it your direction as you walk in the door and you get all kinds of "oh yeah, well click, click to you too," and you make that little hand clicking motion at them back. No? Maybe that's just me?

They are called Hand Tally Counters and they can be had on Am.azon for a mere five hundred pennies. That's right, an entire day of fun for under five dollars. And don't think I didn't get the super saver shipping because I did! Of course I did! And I superly saved! By buying $20.00 more in stuff I didn't need! To avoid paying $8.99 in shipping for a $5.00 item. Amazon wins again. Does it matter? They've already conspired with Goo.gle to take over the world.

So yesterday, my little clicker friend came and today, we count.


I know, he's kind of cute, right?

Wanna play with me? How many mommies do you think I count today? Before you guess, let me give you an example of Cue asking me a question.

Mommymommymommymommymommy - yes Cue - mommymommymommymommy - Yes! Cue! What? - mommymommymommymommymommy mommy? yes, what is it? mommy, where mine nanny mommy?

So that's 17 mommies for one question. Times a hundred kajillion billion questions a day. I know. Clicker only goes to 9999 so we may have to reset. But, I'll keep a running tally here.

1:37 a.m. Gee has to pee - Clicker says: 3 mommies

6:45 a.m.-8:15 a.m. Wake up, dressed, breakfast - Clicker says: 53 mommies (cumulative total)

They are now watching Thomas the bizarre little Tank Engine. Silence.

Extrapolate at will. I'll check back in in a couple of hours. You have to have made your guess by then to play. Let's say fifteen points to the closest guess, ten to second place and five points to third place. Counting ends at 11:59 p.m. tonight, but they go to bed about 6:45.

Oops, 8:45 a.m. diaper change and resulting whine-fest (ongoing) - Clicker says 67

Make that 79. Yeah, that's right, 12 times before I could change the time and hit publish.

Update #1: 1:07 p.m. You are all awesome. Okay play is closed, last comment in the game is #13, my lovely mother. We just returned from a solo Costco run (Where I refused to defer on a prime parking spot to a little old lady, but I waited forever and also FOUR small children by myself. I'm going to hell.), lunch with Daddy at work, and we are now in quiet/nap time until three. Clicker says 303 (Nate shrieked for the last fifteen minutes and I'm pretty sure if he could say mommy, he would have screamed it 1500 times, or possibly, I am starving, milk bitch.)

Update #2: 5:10 p.m. Actually, they kind of kicked butt this afternoon. We had a long quiet time. Clicker says 349. Impressive, but the dinner hour approacheth.

Update #3: 7:19 p.m. They went to bed at 6:45 p.m. Clicker says 507! I have to say, I thought it would be a hundred or so higher than that. I didn't expect to see Matt at lunch today, there were about 100 "Daddies" that threw the total. Cue also took a killer nap. Not that I'm complaining about that in any way.

That's still 42.2 mommies for each hour of awake time. One mommy every eighty-four seconds. For twelve hours. 720 minutes. (Yes, Matt totally had to help me with that math. I have lost all skills). That, my amazing fellow moms and dads, is why our days are long, but our years are short.

MKMom is currently in the lead with her guess of 529. Anna See is second with 463 and Shell is third with 582. I won't call the winners until midnight. You never know when a potty emergency might occur.

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