One of Those Days

Do you ever have one of those days? I swear, yesterday was one of those days that if I were a single mom, I swear I would have hanged myself. It was a tough day, but I've had tougher. But for some reason yesterday, I just couldn't take it anymore. I went to bad angry and woke up this morning angry, too. What right do I have to be angry? Look at my life! It's pretty damn good. But some days URRRFFF!! I just want to scream!!

To start, Annalise had been sick all week. And when one of them is stuck inside all week, that means all of them are stuck inside all week. Correction, all of US are stuck inside all week. And a four year old boy stuck inside all week is not good. So Zachary had TWO temper tantrums yesterday. TWO! And major ones too. So much so that the child has lost his voice today. He has no voice. That's how much screaming was happening in our house yesterday. And Juliette, bless her, is systematically emptying out every single cabinet in the house. There is stuff EVERYWHERE!! I can't walk without tripping on something. I have Splenda packets in my bedroom and tampons in the living room. The granola bars are totally mashed and raisins are permanently imbedded in the carpet. And let's not even mention the cereal. The problem is, that I cannot get anything done unless she is occupied. And the only thing that seems to keep her occupied are Legos (which we try to avoid at all costs. I'm tired of fishing those out of her mouth.) and kitchen and bathroom cabinets. We've babylocked everything that is potentially dangerous to her, but that doesn't stop the mess. Why isn't that kid amused by baby toys? They're fun! They're bright! They're throwable! Totally uninterested. And then by the end of the evening I couldn't put her down without her crying. And since I already had to listen to Zachary crying, I just didn't want to listen to her, too. Remarkably the sick one held up the best.

I think the problem with yesterday wasn't just the temper tantrums and the stuff everywhere, it was my attitude toward it all. I've had a whole week with absolutely not a second to myself. (Well, that's not entirely true. I did have one afternoon where they all either rested or napped at the same time. But then I was writing thank you notes. I don't think that counts as alone time.) I think if I don't have any time to myself for a whole week then I go crazy. So, the lesson is... if I have a sick kid or another time like this when they are all here 24/7, I need to find some way to get some time to myself. A friend wrote me an email this morning talking me down off the fence and saying how we all have days like this. I know we do, but it was a great reminder. I really needed that. So if you are having a day like I had yesterday (or if in the future you do -- and you know you will), remember that I've been there, too. We all have. And a good night's sleep (if you can get it), two kids in school and one down for a nap makes the world a whole lot better. And if you don't have that break, then call me up. We'll commiserate and find a solution. Today, things are not that bad.