Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Sometimes it's hard to be happy.

Now don't get me wrong, I haven't given up.  I still have the determination that I will be happy, fun, playful...all those good things from my last post.  But sometimes it's hard.

Like when you're really, really tired.

Or when you're trying to get the house cleaned up and 5 children ready to go visit their beloved cousins, then pick up Dad from the airport and certain of them will not not not stay on task no matter what.  Heck, they won't even start the task!  Even if you mention that if our stuff isn't done we won't go have cousin time after all.  OR if you tell them that before the neighbors (who are moving today) can't come play until the downstairs is tidied.

[Side note: there is something about laundry that brings out the worst in some of us.  Namely, Lee and Cora.  And me.  Because after literally hours of asking nicely, reminding, reprimanding, etc it's STILL in a pile.  Well, the pile would usually be strewn, flattened and flung so much that it looks like a laundromat exploded in my living room by that point.  I can pretty much guarantee that unless I fold a large amount of the laundry myself while Cora invents new and creative ways to fold her Hello Kitty underwear, it won't get done. And even then it often 'misses' the dresser drawers.  Inevitably there are time-outs and wall-sits and pops on the behind...oh, and yelling.  Plenty of yelling.  But yesterday there was much, much more patience and much, much less of the other junk.  I'll take my small victories where I can, thankyouverymuch!]

Remember this?  Some things take a long, long time to change.  And at least THAT was dirty!
It's also hard to be happy when you're very, very disappointed.  You see, Riah's original plan was to fly home today.  Beautiful, glorious Wednesday morning.  We'd leave Tuesday morning, play all day with cousins, jump on the trampoline, swim in the lake, laugh and have a generally excellent time.  Then we'd get up, meet him at the airport for a joyous reunion mid-morning, and--SURPRISE--catch a matinee showing of Despicable Me 2 as a family treat.  We never--and I mean never--go to movies as a family.  It's so expensive, and the little littles are so squirmy!  Then we'd head back to Carin & Scott's until after dinner, at which point we'd head home because Riah's LPN NCLEX was the next morning.

Cora never stops talking about her cousins...especially this red-headed cutie pie
But the project needed more time.  So we bumped it.  Just by one day.  That was no big deal.  Reschedule dentist appointments, call my backup sitter for the boy I watch in the mornings, not convenient, but not too bad.

Last night I got a call from Riah; his dad needs him on the project through the end of the week.  It's hard for him, but he's not here to comfort Alex when he bursts out in frustrated tears and pounds the floor because all of a sudden we're not leaving tomorrow morning after all.  And I don't know when we will.  It's a huge letdown.  

BUT!  If you buy four completos, it's only four dollars!

Sorry.  We love Kid History around here, and if 'BUT!' ever comes up, it's always followed by a line about completos.  Anyway...

BUT!  (It's Silver Lining time.)
*The unfinished tasks were left unfinished and there was no late-night rush to get everything done.*
*I was able to read another chapter of Mossflower to the kids before bed.*  (It's a prequel to Brian Jacques' novel Redwall, and it's the only big fat fiction book that Alex has e.v.e.r. sat down and inhaled in a few days.  Ever.)*
*And when Cora fell asleep on top of the pile of clean towels, I left her there and scooped her unfolded laundry into a basket, to wait for another day.*

Today we don't have anything on the agenda, so I'm going to figure out something fun for us to do.  All of us.  Today I'm going to play with my kiddos.


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