Oh what to do for a Christmas card this year? I can't stomach doing the same boring old card with the standardized pose again. The girls are too old for the same dress thing too. My mom didn't pick out their Christmas dresses this year so I took the girls shopping to pick their own out. I did say no to a few they were thinking about (too ugly and not appropriate), but overall they chose different dresses that I liked. My mom might not be so happy, but I do believe it is important to allow them to express their individual style. Let's face it I have three completely different personalities on my hands (and sometimes a few extra personalities come out to play. Just kidding). They get to choose whatever they want to wear everyday (as long as it is age and weather appropriate) even if it doesn't match. Yes, I'm the mom that allows her child to wear a plaid skirt with pink snowman tights and a striped top in all different colors because this is what makes her happy. And when my children are happy, I am happy:) So please don't stare unless you have something nice to say.
Anyway back to the Christmas card thing. I have an idea, but I better get my but in gear before the snow starts to fly. To be continued...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Are You There Patience? It's me Mom in need of a...
I had a great morning. I jogged seven miles. Now I do realize that most people are probably going to groan after they've read seven miles( I am going to try a half marathon in the Spring). I can hear it already. Yes I jogged seven miles, but I do enjoy it on a different level. To put it simply, it's therapy. This is a time where I can reflect (or possibly over analyze my behavior, my life in general and other people's behavior in my mind and not be interrupted by nonstop chattering, the phone ringing or a blinking cursor staring at me). It's just me and the road. Well and my music. Hey, it's a lot cheaper than paying lots a money to a stranger that has no idea what it's like to be me. Right?
Well I digress. So after the seven miles, I felt great and refreshed ready for the rest of my afternoon. Then my three children come home from school and the battle of homework begins. Our routine for the Fall season after school every evening is homework, dinner, soccer, showers, and bed (in that order). And this basically takes up the whole evening (I can't wait for the Fall soccer season to be done, only two more weeks).
Now that you have the background, this Tuesday afternoon wasn't as routine as I wanted it to be.
I informed Child #1 that she needed to start memorizing the "Apostle Creed" prayer (hard one if you don't know it) from her CCD class for Sunday. This is when everything went down hill. The crying, the whining, the irrational yelling and rolling on the floor came into play (don't forget she is eight years old now). Did I mention she doesn't like change or CCD class? Well the questions started, "Why do I have to go Sunday school? I hate Sunday School. Dad said I didn't have to go anymore. Why mom? Why mom? I hate Sunday school." Now she was repeating this over and over again. Nothing I said was consoling her or calming her down. After about twenty minutes of this I had enough and I got mad. I started throwing out the standard answers "because I said so" and "I'm the parent and you will do what I will tell you to do." Of course this didn't help any because when I informed Child #2 she had to memorized the "Our Father" prayer, I had two irrational children on my hands only because Child #2 loves to copy Child #1's behavior (Child #2 actually likes CCD, but she always puts on a show for her older sister). You have to love sibling dynamics.
Anyway, I pull out the big card, "I'm calling Daddy and you will have to talk to him." Then the crying and whining gets louder. Unfortunately, this didn't work so well for me since Daddy was traveling and we kept losing him on his cell phone (figures). My last possible threat came out as "If you don't do this, you won't be going to the Halloween dance on Friday." More crying and whining, but they calmed down enough to at least start the first sentence of the prayer. Then I offered to use the memorizing time towards their required reading time for school. This seemed to work except now, I hadn't made dinner and soccer practice was getting closer and all I wanted to do was take a nap. I was ready to cry myself. I was exhausted.
After running seven miles, I feel refreshed. After arguing with an eight year old and a six year old, I was completely exhausted.
How could this be? Impossible. Right?
On the bright side of things, during all this chaos Child #3 quietly colored and stayed out of the way. On the dark side of things, in the near future it will be three against one. I'm in trouble. God help me (Ooh another reason we have to go to church. I will have to write that down).
So Child #1 was late to practice and I still had to make dinner and finish out the evening. Then do it all over again the next day.
Well I digress. So after the seven miles, I felt great and refreshed ready for the rest of my afternoon. Then my three children come home from school and the battle of homework begins. Our routine for the Fall season after school every evening is homework, dinner, soccer, showers, and bed (in that order). And this basically takes up the whole evening (I can't wait for the Fall soccer season to be done, only two more weeks).
Now that you have the background, this Tuesday afternoon wasn't as routine as I wanted it to be.
I informed Child #1 that she needed to start memorizing the "Apostle Creed" prayer (hard one if you don't know it) from her CCD class for Sunday. This is when everything went down hill. The crying, the whining, the irrational yelling and rolling on the floor came into play (don't forget she is eight years old now). Did I mention she doesn't like change or CCD class? Well the questions started, "Why do I have to go Sunday school? I hate Sunday School. Dad said I didn't have to go anymore. Why mom? Why mom? I hate Sunday school." Now she was repeating this over and over again. Nothing I said was consoling her or calming her down. After about twenty minutes of this I had enough and I got mad. I started throwing out the standard answers "because I said so" and "I'm the parent and you will do what I will tell you to do." Of course this didn't help any because when I informed Child #2 she had to memorized the "Our Father" prayer, I had two irrational children on my hands only because Child #2 loves to copy Child #1's behavior (Child #2 actually likes CCD, but she always puts on a show for her older sister). You have to love sibling dynamics.
Anyway, I pull out the big card, "I'm calling Daddy and you will have to talk to him." Then the crying and whining gets louder. Unfortunately, this didn't work so well for me since Daddy was traveling and we kept losing him on his cell phone (figures). My last possible threat came out as "If you don't do this, you won't be going to the Halloween dance on Friday." More crying and whining, but they calmed down enough to at least start the first sentence of the prayer. Then I offered to use the memorizing time towards their required reading time for school. This seemed to work except now, I hadn't made dinner and soccer practice was getting closer and all I wanted to do was take a nap. I was ready to cry myself. I was exhausted.
After running seven miles, I feel refreshed. After arguing with an eight year old and a six year old, I was completely exhausted.
How could this be? Impossible. Right?
On the bright side of things, during all this chaos Child #3 quietly colored and stayed out of the way. On the dark side of things, in the near future it will be three against one. I'm in trouble. God help me (Ooh another reason we have to go to church. I will have to write that down).
So Child #1 was late to practice and I still had to make dinner and finish out the evening. Then do it all over again the next day.
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