Monday, November 23, 2015

11-23-15 I had coffee at 7 p.m.

Last night was a rough evening with the kids. They basically did the opposite of everything that I asked them to do. By the time it was ready for bedtime, I was done... I grabbed Baby E and told the big kids to follow me upstairs. To my surprise, Big E was right behind me on the stairs. However, C was sitting at the kitchen table coloring... and making absolutely no effort to move. I sternly told her she needed to follow me and she said she was finishing her picture. As I headed upstairs, she had a total meltdown and begged me to carry her. When I refused, she started screaming and whining and claiming it was just too difficult for her to climb the stairs. I let her scream and wail, and finally she mustered up the strength to get to the top. 

Once upstairs, there were more insurmountable obstacles like brushing teeth and using the bathroom. I didn't even attempt pjs. Less steps to bedtime the better. I hate to admit, I wasn't very patient with them, but I finally got all three down. Shortly thereafter, I was in bed too... 

When I got up this morning and came downstairs to make C's lunch I found this on the table...


That's what she had been working on when I unceremoniously yelled at her to go upstairs. I had a good dose of mommy guilt on this one. While I was yelling at her, she was writing "For Mommy." She had been making me a gift and I had been berating her for taking too long. 

I started thinking about why I was so impatient last night. I know the kids were tired, and I had spent the majority of the day away from them. But I was tired too, very tired, and I think that was the key. Kids are kids,and while disobedience is not ok, I sometimes forget to look for the root of the disobedience. A lot of times, it is poor decision making on the part of my kids, but there are definitely times when their behavior is a direct reaction to my own. I was crabby last night, and they were pushing back. 

Staring at my picture, I decided that tonight would be different. Problem is when I left work I got caught in horrible traffic, and the closer I got to home, the more tired I was getting. I knew I was going to be a little late and my kids would be hungry and tired. How could I prevent another four way meltdown? 

If only I was not so very tired.

Coffee! Yes, coffee would help. So I drove through Dunkin Donuts and got an iced coffee to get me through the evening.

And guess what? It worked like a charm! We had an absolutely awesome evening! We made dinner together, we played on the floor, and talked about our day. When it was time to go upstairs, I didn't get any arguments. The kids did well getting ready for bed and I even put on a silly little visual story time show (the neighbors probably thought I was nuts, if they happened to glance up at our house and see me in the window) but we had a blast! I loved hearing the laughing and giggling. 

When it was finally time for sleep, I put Baby E in his crib and then crawled into bed with C. We cuddled for awhile and then I moved over to Big E's bed for even more cuddles. It was a wonderful way to end our evening!

However, when I closed their door, I came face to face with the stark reality of my choice... I'm not tired. Well, I am tired...but my body is currently coursing with caffeine and sugar, so laying down is next to impossible. So I cooked breakfast for the next few days, did multiple loads of laundry, scrubbed down my kitchen, and did all my dishes. Seriously, this was one productive evening! 

And while I am totally going to regret the way I am going to feel in the morning, I will not regret hearing the sounds of my children squeal in delight as I chased them around, or the smile on Big E's face when we raced cars along the kitchen floor, or the laughter as I pranced and darted through their room telling them a ridiculous story I made up as I went!

I'll admit, I am overwhelmed with the amount of papers and 'artwork' I've been presented with since C has been in school. Seriously, so much, and we can't keep it all. I've decided to start photographing ones that I really enjoy so at least we can have a digital copy.


I love that this is C's first sentence. I keep finding it everywhere. What a sweetie!


C drew Batman. Looks exactly like him. 

This evening I let them make their own pizzas again. C wanted to eat hers right away, but I reminded her again that it needs to cook. As it was in the oven she asked if she could eat some pepperonis. I said sure. The next thing I know, she is placing pepperonis on top of graham crackers!! She thought it was delicious and gobbled it down, but not before offering me some. I politely declined! Kids are great!!