Today was one of those days. Lest anyone gets the idea from reading this blog full of fun pictures, cute sayings and sweet sentiments that every day is pure bliss... just read on. I figure I had better record the good and the bad, so when I look back I'm not TOOO sad, missing my little children. So here goes...
It began with me making a poor decision (I might have made a few of these)of trying to work on a new blog header after I picked up Symantha from school. I knew Derek was in Alaska and wouldn't be home until around midnight, so no expecting anyone home. All of a sudden, Hailey doesn't like the kind of popsicle she has, Addison is going outside by herself, Symantha is crying because she can't have a "go-cart race" down the large gravel hill outside of our house (no, we don't have go-carts of any kind, this just means taking the jeep with the worn out battery down a big hill and calling for Mommy to push it back up) - oh and I'm talking on the phone, trying to figure out something in photoshop. I get off the phone (maybe a good idea)and deal with all the issues.
In that amount of time, Addison has gone throughout the house and made a BIGGER mess than it already was, and I call everyone inside to clean up for a bit.
It's Hailey's job to clean their room, due to her making the mess during the day, and she proceeds to cry and take FOREVER to do it. Meanwhile, Symantha asks to help with dinner, which I think will be a good, productive thing for her to do, despite knowing it will take me twice as long. Addison is crying at my feet, "Mommy, Mommy!!" as we try to do this. Hailey is crying in the bedroom about it being "too hard" to clean up the tea party she made earlier that day. We finally get dinner ready, and Hailey is almost done cleaning (after her nice older sister agrees to help a bit). As I'm dishing up, I drop Hailey's cheeseburger on the floor. Nice greasy mess. Then Addison comes up, and of course she has a stinky diaper. I salvage Hailey's dinner, put food down for the big girls and go change Addison.... who has developed a rash and screams the whole time.
After dinner, the big girls go outside to play and I give Addison a bath. They come in with some random fight to be dealt with every once in a while, which makes Addison scream at the door, "Bye Bye!!!", meaning she wants to go outside with them. Addison and I read books to distract her. Big girls keep coming in and repeating this cycle, so I make everyone come in. Symantha has a cut and is bleeding, by the way she is acting she may not make it through the night.
Addison can finally go to bed, but she has been sick for the last couple of days and it takes her a while to go to sleep. I have the big girls start cleaning up some of the messes and realize I have been raising my voice way too much tonight. I try to get a better attitude, and have a meeting with the girls about how we are going to clean quickly so then we can do something fun together. They proceed to argue about everything, mess around and generally do nothing. Discipline follows. Hailey has not had a nap, and since she is still needing them sometimes, she can be an emotional mess in the evenings. Living room is finally picked up of toys and I tell them to go pick out some books to read together.
Hailey comes out screaming that Symantha took the book she wanted to choose. Symantha comes telling that Hailey took her book right out of her hands. We don't read any of those books, and I choose. We have a little nice reading time. So I get the brilliant idea after reading The Hungry Caterpillar, that they should watercolor paint butterflies, just like the last page of the book. A nice quiet, enjoyable activity.... until Hailey is crying about her butterfly body being too fat and Symantha's water spills all over her painting, causing her to cry for the next fifteen minutes.
Are you tired of reading yet? I'm not done. Maybe this is therapeutic.
I proceed to give both girls baths (separately! My first bright idea of the evening), Symantha still crying over her painting that we will work on tomorrow. Hailey cries because I am pulling her hair too hard when brushing it. Me continuing to pray for sanity.
Bed, prayer, Bible story night on cd, and close the door - GOOD NIGHT! Nope, Symantha gets up because she feels something in her ear and wants a q-tip. I say no, get back into bed.
Then Addison wakes up and starts screaming. That was 8:20, I have now been in there to calm, rock, sing, pat, give her water, give her tylenol, and she is still crying off and on at 9:22. I go in and out, trying various things. Derek calls and lets me know that our plan for tomorrow, where he goes to watch Symantha's ballet class (it's observation week)is not going to work because he has a work meeting, so I now need childcare and a plan to be at ballet somehow. I'm going back into Addison's room to see what else I can do now...
If you got to the end of this post, I will be amazed. But now it is recorded forever... some days are just like this. Tomorrow has to be better.
And I found the perfect picture taking spot at Grandma and Grandpa Edwards' house, right before we left for the performance.
Then came the part Symantha was waiting for... Flowers! Don't ask me why she was so excited to get flowers, but she loved coming out afterwards and holding bouquets like a real ballerina would. I'm glad it was such a great experience for her, and now I think she has ballet out of her system... she had talked about wanting to do it forever, and now she talks about other activities for next year!
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