As a working parent, I struggle to balance being a good and loving parent in the mornings when I know my kids are fresh and happy. During the week, I often find myself rushing my kids to get them ready in the morning. Nudging (and often forcing) the kids to get dressed, go potty one more time, grab their stuff, get shoes on, hurry out to the car, sit back in their seat to get buckled in... we are running late - again.
As I sit through my day, I vow to have a little more patience tomorrow. I try to think about what I could do differently in our morning routine to alleviate the rut we fall in that leads to frustrations, tears and sometimes screaming - I am ashamed to admit that I can be a screamer, but it's true. It's an inherited parenting flaw.
When the evenings come, I want nothing more than relaxing with my children, laughing and playing as we wind down our day. But this doesn't always happen (circling back to the top.) I can't help but feel like Karma is playing tricks on me. As parents, we just want to have an uneventful dinner, unwind from the day, help our kids into their jammies, brush their teeth, read a story to them, help them say their prayers and kiss them good night and remind them that we love them and are proud of them.
Handy Man and I then want nothing more than to close up shop, retire to our own jammies and bed and watch one of our evening programs - I am so bummed that House is now over... Thank heavens we still have Deadliest Catch each week - before drifting off to sleep.
Most nights, there are pieces of this fantasy that find small glimpses of reality.
With the days getting longer, it's light long after bedtime. Our Brown eyed girl is really struggling with accepting her bed time. A week of vacation didn't help the battle much either. I get it. I used to hate daylights savings as a kid.
On a weekly basis, I follow a couple other blogs. One specifically, Momastery, was featured on Huffungton Post last week. Blogger Glennon Melton posted a blog about putting her kids to bed. More so, the struggles she and her husband had with actually keeping them in bed. She reads and sings to them and finally gets them down and then they pop up one at a time for an hour and it’s like a twisted game of whack-a-mole. It's worth a read.
I laughed out loud and forwarded the link to several of my co-workers with small kids.
I definitely can relate. Our Brown Eyed Girl pops up out of bed every night as soon as she hears us retire to our bedroom. She usually doesn't call for us or ask for miscellaneous items to prolong her waiting slumber - well until this weekend. Typically, she just goes around ransacking the house for items she can take back to bed with her. Toys, books, stuffed animals and dress up clothes to entertain her wondering thoughts until she finally drifts off to sleep.
I wake her in the mornings to find a million foreign toys in her bed, engulfing her small body. She gathers some pretty random items as well. Dog leashes. Remote controls. My shiny western belts. Dish towels. My dress shoes. Pillows.
Usually, she is quiet as a mouse.
Lately, our Brown Eyed Girls has been catching moths that get in the house and fly around at night. I am so sick of moths, aka mops. Handy Man and I will be laying in bed when we hear the tiny pitter-patter of little feet scurrying across the kitchen floors. We hear the door open, close, and then little feet scurrying back to bed. We lay in bed, shaking our heads.
Our Brown Eyed Girl feels it is her responsibility - no her duty - to catch and release every moth she finds, no matter the time.
Even the dead ones... They too must be found and either placed in the trash or outside.
I don't know how many times I remind her each evening that, "We need to stay in our beds." She assures me that she will.
And every night, pitter-patter, pitter-patter.
This weekend she started introducing the "I need a drink of water" routine. I can't help but say "Whack-a-mole!"
It is my new favorite phrase each night.
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