5 years and still learning

My revelations for this week, after a truly horrible weekend with our kids' attitudes. I don't want to say a horrible weekend with our kids, we had a pretty good weekend. Their attitudes though, were just horrible! Whining, crying, whining some more and crying some more. Oh, sprinke in a few fits.

I guess it started when I woke up tired and tired and really tired on saturday morning. Phil was heading to Fayettville to tailgate with a bunch of crazy razorback friends. Oh, U of Arkansas is in Fayettville and they were playing Alabama. U of A was ranked 10 and Alabama 1. Great game. Or, so they say. We had people coming over at 2pm to play in the cool, blowup slide and watch the game, on TV. Before all of that fun started, we had a soccer game at 9am. Did I mention I was tired? Three kids and one mom at soccer isn't really all that fun. Not to mention the soccer player gets there with no shoes. It wasn't just her cleats she forgot, she wasn't wearing any shoes! So, of course, tired single mom of three kids becomes tired single angry yelling mom of three kids. Back home, back to soccer, 5 year old soccer player now had a crushed spirit because of tired single angry yelling mom. Yep, my fault. Crappy.

From there, to car wash. One kid with covered ears becuase he doesn't like car washes and another kid crying through the whole thing. Crazy. Just to note: andrew covered his ears and Jack cried. I calmly tried to calm them. Calmly. Didn't work.

Sam's club. We all love sam's club. Especially saturdays or sundays... sample time. It's so much fun. Our moods were starting to change.

To home: all I asked her to do was clean up her room! Then, she could come downstairs and play or craft or anything. 1.5 hours later... still not clean. Let me clarify, it wasn't really dirty. Really... just a few odds and ends laying around. She made her bed in record time and then whined and cried for the next 1.5 hours! Goodness! I could have cleaned it up in 10 minutes. She wanted me to help. No. Our friends arrived. Audrey was sent back to her room. I told her she would have a concequence if it wasn't cleaned (note: I don't know what that means in her mind b/c I don't use that term very often... tushy pinch, no tv, no before bed book... she knows those things!). She cleaned, it looked great.

After fun swimming... all of the kids were up stairs playing. I suddenly felt bad for making her clean b/c it soooo wasn't clean anymore! Poor audrey, she'd have to clean again. And we'd have to endure her whining again. ohhhh, poor mom and dad.

Oh, to cycle back again... Phil makes it back home around 4! Much later than anticipated. Did I mention I was tired and now entertaining by myself. It was nice I told our friends to make themselves at home and they did. nice :)

I was asleep by 9:30. Saturday night. Our social lives need some help....

OHHHHH... what did I learn (Audrey's the 5 years)??!!! (sunday was just as bad. I almost cried many times b/c Audrey was just horrible and I felt lost, like I was doing nothing right). Monday and Tuesday, phil's out of town, and the kids are amazing. Really. I've made a conscious effort to relax. Not yell. Calmly direct. Leave early for things so we're not rushed b/c kids don't rush, they just don't - why has it taken me this long to learn that kids to rush, I need to leave earlier. When said kids throw a fit when we're at our destination, I just camly close the van doors and let them cool down. A few minutes later, we all calmly walked to soccer (this example) and had a great evening. Audrey loved it and played well... no crushed spirit this time. So, no rushing... no yelling... no daddy... and we're having a bit more fun. Getting to bed a little later, but it's working for the past two days :)