This has been one of those weekends where I feel like, what business do I have writing a blog about "The Fine Art of Motherhood?" My husband has been working long hours since Friday, (he's on his way home now, God bless America!) and I have been in the house since Friday with a rambunctious 7 year old going on 16, and a sick 19 month old... The entire weekend has been a tennis match between my older daughter and I -- volleying back and forth for control of the game. We get along, we're having a nice time, then Sybil (did you see the movie with Sally Field, about the woman with multiple personalities? My daughter must have!) comes out of nowhere with one of her other personalities. We get upset with each other, I try to reason with her (have you tried recently to reason with a 7 year old? Yeah...), and we both end up frustrated and cranky. I have tried all weekend to explain to her that our underlying issue (no, I did not use those words!) is that she does not listen to me. I would be concerned about her hearing, but I am fully aware of the difference between hearing and listening... Oh, and she likes to say, "Sorry" in a really sarcastic, "I'm not sorry at all!" sort of way.
A few things that I came up with to break up the monotony of crabbing at each other all weekend -- we had movie night -- twice! Friday night I rented the Bratz live action movie, which was surprisingly cute and un-Bratzlike. We got in our jammies, made popcorn, turned down the lights, and snuggled up for the movie. Saturday night we rented Ratatouille, which she and I saw at the movie theater, but still enjoyed the second time. Today she helped me to give her little sister a bath, which is always entertaining, and this afternoon while her sister was napping, she and I made a cake to surprise Daddy with. I let her do all of the egg cracking, pouring, and stirring, and then she picked the color that she wanted the writing to be and she mixed the food coloring and frosting. After I wrote "We love Daddy" on it, I turned over the "pastry bag" (Ziploc baggie with one corner cut off -- works great!) over to my girl and she made all sorts of hearts and squiggles all over the cake. I also spent quite a bit of time fixing our computer so that she could play Webkinz -- her favorite!
It's easy to be a mom when there are fun things to do and everyone's healthy and in a great mood. But on those occasions where you are feeling unappreciated or feeling like you are speaking a foreign language that your children just don't comprehend -- muscle through and try and find a couple of fun things to do that will entertain both you and your kids. And just keep reminding yourself that bedtime is right around the corner! ;) Oh, and you love being a mom and tomorrow will be a better day!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Survival Techniques
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3 comments:
Your title made me laugh because I recently spoke with Jen whose husband is away for the next 3 weeks and when I asked how she was doing she said, "Just surviving" Similar to what you've outlined!
It's hard to do anything at all when the baby is sick so I give you kudos for doing all that you did! We all have those "just surviving days"
And I guess it's goof that people see the good and the not so good of motherhood sometimes so I think you're perfectly within your realm to write this blog! It's not always fun and games-Sometimes it's a heck of a lot of work too!
Oh yes I repeat "this too shall pass" on those crabby days. The bad weather didn't help much we stayed in ALL day on Saturday.
Bummer about the sick LO and a frustrating 7yr. old. Great ideas for breaking up the monotony. I hope your DH enjoyed his surprise I’m sure it made him feel good to come home to a special cake just for him.
Thanks Ladies -- sometimes it's nice to remember that we are not all perfect, and that really no one expects us to be! But the wonderful moments with my girls far outweigh the frustrating ones!
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