This is, unfortunately, a typical routine around here:
(note to readers: routine is magnified when I've been parenting alone all day)
(note to self: will be parenting alone tomorrow & half of Saturday too, don't fall for the routine)
late afternoon: childrens naps are over and I'm getting tired
early evening: all the energy pouring out of the children is really starting to wear me down
dinnertime: hurry and feed the kids and pray they will like dinner so I can enjoy at least 3 minutes of no talking/teasing/questions/yelling/singing/chanting, etc.
time between dinner and bed: patience is wearing dangerously thin
sometime after that: I snap, yell, scream, act ridiculous and frighten the children
then for the rest of the night...feel like a horrible mom and give myself a good emotional beating, look at the sleeping children and wish I could rewind the last few hours and try it again
Being a parent is hard.
Here's where the irony comes in...just came across my journal from when I was 15. I wrote about what a jerk my mom was and how she "won't let me come and go as I please" (sorry mom...I was a horrible teenager and I know my paybacks haven't even begun. She had six other kids from 13 to 7 months...it's obvious who the jerk was). I wrote, "I'm never going to be like this to my kids. I'm going to start making a list of things not to do and ways not to be when I'm a parent!"
Yeah, so, I never actually made the list and even if I would have, I think I would have broken every "I will not" 100 times over, and I've only been doing this for 6 years!!!
I think I'll end with a great quote Ginger Ewell shared in her class yesterday: "If the child annoys you, quiet him by brushing his hair. If this doesn't work, use the other side of the brush on the other end of the child." (Anonymous)
You are welcome for this frightening peek into the window of my life.
You are welcome for this frightening peek into the window of my life.
5 comments:
you're so funny...your a better mom than me though and i only have one. zackery's face is hilarious, what a little turkey. (are both is cheeks bruised?) and why is the cute picture of cruzer with the hat a blooper!! haha
don't be so hard on yourself! being a parent IS HARD! You do a wonderful job and you have incredible patience! Love you!
we are in the same boat, then....that is my exact nightly routine - especially when jared is working alot.
i remember thinking i was going to be so different than my mom, too. and then when day i said something that sounded just like my mom. it stinks. but, i turned out ok, right? so my kids still have a shot.
thanks for the laughs....
So true- that time of night is awful. I can't tell you how many times I have snapped. I love that quote!!! Glad other people, especially someone as good as you, has those days too.
You are not alone my friend! I do the same thing and then go to bed feeling horrible, promising myself I will have more patience the next day...but it never happens! It is so HARD but thankfully at some point we decide it was worth it:)
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