Category: bad day

bad day, children, motherhood, parenting

Mommed

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I was having a moment.  I had been cruising through the week and then, I wasn’t.  Mad Dog has been gone for over a week and won’t get back for a few more days.

I have no reason to complain.  My boys are older and they are about a thousand percent easier to manage compared to when they were small.  We also do lots of fun stuff together like special dinners out and movie marathons.  It isn’t perfect but it works.

However, we all miss Mad Dog and after a while, this feeling of missing him creeps over us and then it’s harder to be our best selves.

Yesterday, as I tried to order Full Speed’s track uniform (yay! He made the track team!  So what if all he had to do was show up, basically, he made the team at ‘hello’, still….he made the commitment to be on a team…woo-hoo!), I lost it.  Why? Part of it was that it was about my one-hundredth action item of the day, and the other part was that Full Speed is one of the hardest kids in the world to find clothes that fit properly.  I can’t explain it but he always seems to fall in between regular sizing.  I had stared at the computer screen completely flummoxed as to what size to purchase when I finally pulled the trigger.  As I printed out the receipt I realized after all that agonizing, I had ordered the wrong size!  Yes, in the grand scheme of life it is no big deal, but it felt really big right then and I started to cry.

Full Speed came over to me, put his arm around my shoulders and said:

“It’s okay, Mom.  Everyone makes mistakes.  I just appreciate you buying the uniform for me.  I know you miss, Dad, too.  Because you miss him that’s probably really why you are upset. I understand.”

I had to admit, the kid made some good points.

Then, it dawned on me…I got ‘mommed’.

He basically said every exact thing I would say to him if the tables were turned.

I’m grateful he had the empathy to comfort me.  Nice that some of what I say to him sticks.

Today was better.

Here I will share a photographic art installation which symbolizes how well I am managing.

Thankfully, Little Guy waived all modeling fees.

bad day, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Next?

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It’s official.  The internal struggle is over.  I am ready for the boys to start school.  This home stretch to their first day is taking a toll.  Every day I strive to keep them physically active.  Every day I work with them to keep their minds growing.  Every day I make sure all of their needs and most of their demands are met. 

I am doing my part.  Apparently it is not enough.  No matter how much I have planned I get asked by the boys ‘What are we doing next?’ about 557 times a day. 

If I get asked one more time today this same question I’m pretty sure my head is going to explode.

Believe me the irony will not be lost on me when after it explodes I will have to clean up the mess myself. 

Inevitably one or both boys might say, “After you are done cleaning up that mess, Mom, what are we doing next?”

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bad day, humor, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

???????????????????

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At what age can I safely take my very active boys to a store and not have that semi-sinking feeling in my gut?  Will I ever be able to run a quick errand with them or will they always, always end up in some sort of time-out by the end of t?  Will they ever let me pay in peace?  Is there a time when I can walk through a parking lot and not have extreme anxiety that one of my flibbertigibbet boys will get maimed or smooshed?

Is it me or is it quite normal to say these questions aloud when there is no one around to listen?

Was today a good day?

Will tomorrow be better?

Will I make it through?

Maybe…

Maybe not…

This is the million dollar question.

bad day, children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Gifted

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I was reading some headlines on the computer when one caught my eye.  It listed 10 signs that children are gifted.  Of course being a parent I was inclined to read it.  They were fairly non-specific and I didn’t leave it with any real sense of whether or not Full Speed and/or T.Puzzle fit the bill.  I then imagined a ‘gifted’ list that would fit my boys to a T.

1.  Throws raging tantrums at fifteen months until the age of five.

2. Believes themselves to be in charge when all evidence points otherwise.

3. Displays episodes of extreme hyperactivity.

4.  Won’t back down from any challenge, imposed discipline or confrontation without a fight.

5.  Fiercely independent.

6. Remembers the tiniest details and won’t ever let you forget them.

7.  Strong-willed doesn’t even began to cover their temperament.

8.  Believes themselves to always, always be right and will argue until they are blue in the face to convince you of their rightness.

9.  Asserts their needs loudly, strongly and often.

10.  Wears down their Mommy until she is certain she can’t remember her own name, where she lives or what she is doing.

Keep in mind this list was written while T.Puzzle was in his room screaming at length because he kept telling me ‘no!’ all morning long and had engaged in his new favorite past-time of ‘run-away-from-Mommy-in-the-parking-lot’.

Thankfully, I’m gifted at discipline.

bad day, children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, Taekwondo

Grace is a Name I Call Myself

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I took both boys to taekwondo.  It was rainy and the sky was clouded in a way that made me feel kind of doomy.  For some reason, I did not have a proper attitude.  My attitude could have stemmed from the twisted knee I sustained during last Friday’s Zumba class (yes, I clearly am highly coordinated) and it twinged with regret every time I took a step.  Or, I am starting to really, truly be over the YEAR ROUND taekwondo situation (Mad Dog, please take note).  Yes, with most activities there is a distinctive start point and end point.  Taekwondo is infinite.  Apparently, my boys can become 128th degree black belts and me?  I would like to start earning my black belt in lounging or slacking off in general.  But, alas, this will never happen.  Even if for some reason we suspend all kung-fu type activity in our home, there will be another activity or goal to replace it. 

My goal?  To try to remain gracious even when I feel completely the opposite.

How am I doing Mad Dog? 

On second thought, better not answer that.  You know with me trying to be more gracious and all.