Today was an interesting day. The kids are off of school for today and tomorrow so we planned to go swimming with some friends at the Y this morning at 10:15. Everyone woke up crazy early so I decided to play the we can’t go unless everyone gets their jobs done card.
I accidentally did Thatcher’s main job (unloading and loading the dishwasher) so I had to figure out something else for him to do. I gave him the choice of cleaning up the toys in the basement or sweeping the kitchen and dining room floors….I really didn’t want him to pick sweeping because the floors needed a really good sweep and I knew that if I had him do it, I would have to do it again (who has time for that) or be over his shoulder like a hawk pointing out the three hundred pieces of dirt he was sure to miss in his hap hazard sweeping…which I also didn’t have time to do or want to do…..
Note to self: Don’t give children an option that you clearly do not want them to pick, no matter how sure you are that they won’t pick it because Murphy’s law kicks in and said children will pick it every time….why do I have to keep relearning this lesson?
I was sure he would choose the basement NOPE! So I “helped” him make sure to get every spec (it was painful.) Have you seen a seven year old sweep?
In order for it to only take four hours instead of six, I opted to help him move the chairs out away from the table. That’s when it happened. One of the chairs I was pushing out of the way somehow tipped over and hit the wall, putting a nice slice through my pretty new paint job and it sliced pretty far into the drywall too. I was so sad, mad and frustrated.
I may or may not have yelled out a really loud DANG IT! and may or may not have sat down on the floor and cried for a minute.
As I was sitting there feeling sad, mad and frustrated with my children looking at me like, “What’s the big deal Mom?” I had to ask myself that same question, “What IS the big deal?” Did I really just yell DANG IT! and sit on the floor and cry over a cut in my wall? Who am I?
I’m the tired mom who spent precious time, blood, sweat and tears painting that wall and, apparently, formed a significant attachment to it. But here’s the thing, It’s just a wall. I don’t want to be the mom that teaches her kids (by example) that when something frustrating happens you scream and then cry on the floor…..Wait a second, that’s what Trever does when he is sad, mad or frustrated….maybe he’s rubbing off on me. HA! If only that were the reason for my over reaction to the slice in my wall.
Anywho, in that moment it was like I had a clear picture of how directly my behavior and actions affect my kids. Did screaming and crying on the floor make me feel better? NO. Is it the end of the world that there is a slice in my wall? No. Can it be fixed? Yes. Will it be fixed anytime soon? Probably not. Is that okay? Yes.
I like to think I reacted a little better to the next frustrating thing that happened today because I had that little insight this morning.
So we went to the YMCA to go swimming. We hadn’t been there for over a year and when we pulled up Conner excitedly says. “Hey, I remember that!” I thought he was talking about the building, but no, he was talking about a dirt hole in the side of a hill by the parking lot….that boy and dirt…..(that’s not the frustrating thing.)
Reunited with an old friend…
We had a great time swimming. Before we left the house I had told the kids that we could go grab a burger or something after swimming and take it home to eat picnic style and watch a movie. I had purposefully grabbed a small stash of cash (about $25) when we left the house and didn’t bother grabbing my wallet.
Of course everyone (including me) was starving when we got done swimming. We got changed and headed out to the van. Got all buckled in. I got the money out to double check how much I had. I had five ones and….wait a second, where is the twenty?
I searched the car and couldn’t find it anywhere. DANG IT! (don’t worry I didn’t say it out loud this time.)
I lost it somehow, somewhere, and because I hadn’t grabbed my wallet I didn’t have enough money to stop somewhere on the way home. AND, getting Trever home before he fell asleep was already going to be a feat in and of itself and so help me I did not want him taking his nap in the car, mama needs that precious nap time to get things done….and mom really didn’t want to actually have to make lunch today….
The kids were sad and so was I. I was looking forward to a burger and fries….
After weighing my options I decided to go home and grab my wallet and hit a different fast food place that was closer to our house and I enlisted the kids in the “keep Trever awake” challenge.
Trever did unfortunately fall asleep for a few minutes, but thankfully he still took a good nap after he ate his chicken and fries.
I’m still a little sad I lost $20 but I’m hoping someone who really needed it or needed a boost in their happiness today, found it.
The big kids watched a movie in the basement while they ate their lunch. Trever ate quickly and then took a nap and mommy, well mommy may or may not have ordered herself, and hid from the children, a couple pieces of pie to enjoy after her burger and fries (nothing like a 4000 calorie lunch.)
I let the kids watch an extra show so I could enjoy my spoils uninterrupted.
As far as dinner tonight goes, I was about to prep a No-boil Lasagna for my husband to cook while I took Conner to the Dermatologist, but when I grabbed the box of lasagna noodles out of the cupboard it only had one and a half noodles in it. Great. I went with plan B which was to make a breakfast casserole I have been wanting to try. This way I could also take pics and get it ready for a post.
That plan didn’t really go so well since we had to wait almost an hour at the Dermatologist and then when I got home I remembered I needed to make a pumpkin dessert for a church meeting tonight. So I quickly mixed that up and started to get the casserole ready and take pics, but I only got half way done before I had to leave for parent teacher conferences.
I had to come home in between conferences to grab Thatcher for soccer practice so I quickly finished the last part, took a picture of that step and told my husband how long to cook it.
I ran back to the school for the second teacher conference and ran home to get ready for the church meeting and to take a final picture of the finished casserole.
Unfortunately, the sun was pretty much down by this point and I couldn’t get a decent picture. ugh….if there is one part of blogging I could do away with it would be the photography part. I stink at it and it stresses me out. Why do things need to look pretty? Darn that Pinterest!
I ran to my meeting and Sim picked Thatcher up at Soccer practice. I ate a little of dinner before I left and everyone else ate after I left.
Sim said it was a hit with everyone.
That’s what I like to hear.
I’m going to bed now, this mama is tired and was crazy enough to tell the kids we could go swimming again tomorrow….that is if she doesn’t get a gall bladder attack from her super healthy eating choices today.
Keep it Real!
Maria
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