It's been one of those days all day long: I woke up with frazzled nerves (DH says I mumbled all night long, so I guess what sleep I got was not the restful kind -- for either of us) and every single sound the kids have made has grated on me all day. This morning we had happy fort-building noises, then squealy-screamy fighting-over-a-balloon noises, then the sounds of the older two practicing for their second-ever piano lessons with Grandpa. (We don't have a piano, sadly, but we got a mini keyboard at Radio Shack. Which means the girls enjoy laying down a kickin' synthesizer drum beat behind their repetitive three-note song. AWESOME.)
I got some peace at noon when I put Tres down for a nap and DH, who had the day off, took the other girls to his parents' house for their piano lessons. But I blinked and they were home, those children with their inability to whisper, and Tres woke up before she should have. Cue the loud video game noises, the hey-it's-my-turn! noises, the I'm-huuuuuuungry whining. I tried to lie down for much of the afternoon, since DH was home to pick up the slack, but Tres kept coming in every few minutes to kiss my headache or give me an imaginary bandaid with fairies on it. Sweet, but still not terribly restful.
Still very frazzled feeling.
Bedtime consisted of the usual craziness, the herding of reluctant, easily distracted cats toward pajamas and tooth brushing and story time. Dos livened things up by throwing a fit at one of my choices of stories, and then throwing a bigger fit when I acquiesced and stopped reading the objectionable story. So I cut reading time short (see, I have this crazy rule that you don't get to kick your mother without a consequence) and put everyone in their own beds. Tres cried and screamed because she didn't want to be cooped up in her crib yet. Dos continued to wail and flail over who knows what (she was so tired, anything I'd have done would have been wrong in her eyes). Uno remained the very picture of calm; I think she likes it when Dos has tantrums because it makes her (Uno) seem so rational.
Ay yi yi.
They're not asleep yet. Dos sobbed for a long while -- "I only wanted Mommy to read me that story! I promise I wouldn't throw a fit anymore!" -- and I almost felt bad. Sometimes I'm torn between wanting to be merciful and actually teaching them that kicking your mom (or anyone else) is wrong. Sigh. But it worked out all right; I can hear Uno reading amazing true facts about weather
to her by the light of their night light. It's not the book Dos wanted (or didn't want, depending on which moment you asked her) but it's calmed her down; the girls still get their story and I get to stick to my guns. It seems like a reasonable compromise all around, so I will not go in and remind them to go to sleep yet.*SIGH.*
I feel so fried. I felt fried by 9am, and this was a day when I had DH home with us the whole time! Those days are rare! What am I going to do when squealy-screamy Quatro gets here? You know I won't be getting any restful sleep then! How will I survive? How in the world did my mom raise eight of us and stay so sweet and sane??
Clearly I am not her.
~RCH~
5 comments:
Did your Mom have some sweet drugs? :) Mine had eight as well and maybe it's because I was the second one, but I remember a lot of yelling and incredulous, "Who DOES these things?!"
Congratulations, by the way. Maybe this one will be a boy and the emotions won't run as high for him. (Unless he's like one of my male 10 year-old piano students who ran from my house crying...)
I'm only the third (and we first three came in just less than three years -- on purpose, the crazy lady!) and I remember everything being fairly idyllic. I swear, that woman is a saint. Or maybe it's just the crazy. ;-)
I have such a different perspective now as the mom than I did as the kid! It was so much fun to grow up in our own little "neighborhood" of tightly knit sibs (mostly sisters, but two boys too). As the parent? HOLY COW, lol. And I know now, having talked to her about it, that my mom definitely had her struggles with all of us. But I still insist she was better equipped to handle her eight than I could ever be to handle four.
Ay yi yi! But the Lord doesn't give us more than we can handle, right? Suuuuuure. I have to keep telling myself that.... ;-)
Mom is amazing! I used to want eight kids because it was so fun growing up together. Now that I have one, that number of how many I want is much smaller. I'm pretty sure I would not handle eight any where near how well mom raised us!
I am absolutely confident that you'll figure out the whole 4 kids business and better than you'll give yourself credit for too.
I'm sorry you had a particularly rough day, those kinds are hard. But if you really are having a hard time adjusting to even the idea of 4 and feel inadequate and overwhelmed ask DH for a priesthood blessing. Heavenly Father loves you and wants to bless you for the great woman, wife, and mother that you are.
Love your guts sister!
sis, you can do it!! love you!
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