Cocktail Anyone...

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My son was visiting my parents for the past four days and today I picked him up.

I missed him so much; if you're a parent you know that when one of your kids is away you feel like a piece is missing from you. I was so happy to see him and hear him say "I missed you mama".

Then do you know what happened? Him and his sister started to fight. They hadn't seen each other for four days and the first thing they do is fight. My chronic migraine that mysteriously disappeared when my children were separated suddenly came back with a vengeance.

I went from missing all of my children being with me to fantasizing about running to my car and driving away with the tires squealing and the kids and my mom staring at the tail end of my car, slack jawed. Didn't happen but it feels good to think of such things sometimes.

I only have five more days to go until my son starts Kindergarten and I have a little peace from the fighting every weekday afternoon. I will miss Tyler but Lord, oh Lord will I enjoy not wanting to bash my head into the wall trying to drown out the whining, shrieking and tattling. I'm sure a nice cocktail would have the same effect but for some reason a mom drinking during the day is frowned upon...

Raving Lunatic...

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Having three kids has turned me from a somewhat patient person to a yelling, screaming crazy woman.

This didn't happen overnight. When I had my son I never yelled at him- he was the only one so I had had time to work with him on his behavior and had time to give myself breaks when I felt overwhelmed. Baby number two came and my son was in his terrible twos so I had my moments of losing it a bit- nothing grates a mom's nerves more than trying to console a screaming baby while a toddler is ranting and raving about nonsense. Baby number three came and while she was a little darling, my two older kids decided that they just loved to fight with each other about anything and everything. What is a breastfeeding mom who is stuck on the couch nursing a baby to do when a fight breaks out but to try and yell louder than the fighting kids?

Now I feel like the only thing I do all day is yell. I hate yelling. I think parents sound ridiculous when they scream at their kids but alas I have turned into a ridiculous parent. I can see my attitude rubbing off on my three year old daughter who is a little girl who doesn't take crap from anyone and I am embarrassed that she is learning her behavior from me. I have to send her to school someday and I don't want my little diva to be kicked out of preschool for being the baddest babe on the block.

For the good of my kids and for the good of myself I am going to challenge myself to not yell at all for the next week (though I will still allow myself to yell at the dog if he barks and wakes the baby up from her nap because she barely sleeps as it is). I don't want my kids to look back and remember their childhood as dealing with a raving lunatic of a mother and I want them to be able to model their behavior after me. When (not if) they don't listen or misbehave I will talk to them about what they did; maybe the kill them with kindness approach will work and my kids will turn into lovely little people. Maybe they will even stop fighting and trying to annihilate each other but I won't hold my breath on that one. And if they are still little monsters I still have little Jilly Billy who I can try and not screw up...

Crazy Little Monsters...

This picture really says it all...

My two older kids are crazy and Jilly Billy is saying "get me the heck out of here". Don't worry, I swooped in to save her from her over-cuddly siblings.

Pretty soon though she's going to have the learn how to hold her own against the older ones, but she's such a moose that I don't see that being an issue.

Kids are funny- one second they are making you want to rip your head off and the next the are so darn cute that you can't help but smile...

Christmas Card 2011

Here is my 2011 Christmas Card. The thought of trying to get the three kids to sit together for a nice picture was just too overwhelming for me so I did a mish mosh of pictures that I already had. Good enough for me...