Thursday, April 3, 2008

one of those days

Oh, man. It's been one of those days, brought on by one of those weeks.
DH has had a crazy schedule. He hasn't been home much before 8pm this week and I'm not used to that. I feel like a single mom who is also expected to have a man-pleasing meal on the table and be a good evening companion. (As opposed to collapsing on the sofa in my rattiest sweatpants once the kids go to bed.) Not DH's fault at all, though- I know he'd rather be home with us. But it just makes for some LONG days.
I woke this morning at 5:00 (after also being wakened at 2:00 by Sister who needed her covers put back on!) to hear Brother coughing and crying. He went back to sleep- I couldn't.
When he did wake for the day, he had a nasty runny nose and a general fussy disposition. Poor thing seems to have caught a cold. Naturally, the morning dawned rainy and chill, and the weather hasn't improved.
Last night I read the first part of Amanda's book and sternly told myself, you CAN be this kind of parent. You CAN!
But by 10:00 am I was desperate to get them out of the house (one sibling quarrel too many) and so where did I go on a cold, rainy day with sickly children? Target, of course! An hour later, after an in-store Fruit Loop gorge, we emerged with foam letters for Brother's bath time, new swimsuits, a pretend beauty parlor set for Sister, a frozen pizza for lunch, and a new Barney video. Yes, a Barney video. I'm that tired. (So much for being a SouleMama today!)
It didn't really help. Brother is just so fussy- he fussed at the Barney video and he scattered his letters all over the bedroom and he drove Sister nuts as he kept running over and snatching her little beauty parlor things while she was trying to give Madeline a makeover. I was quite glad to put him down for his nap, bless his little heart.
Now I've had a 20 minute cat-nap and feel ready to face the afternoon. (DH will be late once again- he has to attend a PTA luau at his school. Sheesh! It never ends...)
However, chin up! I have a plan for rainy-day-sick-kids-long-afternoon-survival:
The bean-bin with scoops, cups, bowls, etc. (This is such a mess that I only pull it out when I'm desperate.)
this matching game
watercolor paints
this book with body crayons (stored in a chest for just such a rainy day)
I hope these combined activities get us until at least 6:00. And we're totally eating leftovers tonight. Cooking is so out.
Maybe I can be a SouleMama tomorrow!

4 comments:

Meg said...

Oh, it's almost over, hang in there! We all have those days--I'm sure SouleMama does too (it just doesn't make for inspiring reading). There's always tomorrow (or the day after that)!

Hope you get a good night's sleep!

Anonymous said...

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that it was a rough one.
You know what I think, it all needs to be taken with a grain of salt....would Amanda have her kids in Target eating fruit loops, probably not, but is that the real reason you aspire to be like her, I doubt it.
Incorporate the bits of inspiration that comfortably fit your life now and see what changes come about. Rome wasn't built in a day. And Meg's right, Everybody has those days, even Amanda!!!

I'm crossing my fingers that you get a good nights sleep too!

Beck said...

Not every day is going to be filled with endless creativity and soulfulness, right? You did a good job of keeping them busy and happy, which in the end is the whole point.

Anonymous said...

i hear you, i hear you.

isolate the good, i tell ya, then life looks pretty sweet.


it's all about remembering the good.