Well so far this week has been a good week. Saturday night we had a stake adult meeting so I got a babysitter and Rich and I went to that and then out to dinner afterwards. I have really badly chapped lips from going to the dentist and keeping my mouth open for so long without the chapstick that I normally put on them beforehand. So... I wasn't really thinking about them when we went to a Mexican place for dinner. I enjoy mexican, but I don't like a lot of spicy hot stuff- mild is more my level of enjoyment. I decided to try a dish and thought it looked like it would be a little spicier than mild, but not too bad. So I got it. I was really good, but my lips were burning and on fire... It came with two flat bread taco's and I traded with Rich and gave him one after I finished the first, and took his plain taco from his combo plate because my lips couldn't handle another taco while they were burning. lol!
Sunday we made the choice to just have the two older kids go to Stake Conference with Rich and for me to stay home with the two little kids. Rich said it was a great broadcast that the Prophet spoke at and I was a little sorry to have missed it, but I know I probably would have been out in the hallway with one of the little girls if I had gone anyway.
I think the biggest reason this week is going well is because I had a relaxing Sunday, and because I'm making a stronger effort to exercise daily than I have in the recent past. I had a really good workout yesterday and today and am feeling really good about things.
The one downer this week has been that Rich and I's computer died on us. We have an older computer that we have loaded with stuff for the kids so we still have internet access, but I don't have access to any of my bookmarks or my email addresses... so if you read this and have a blog of your own that I haven't been commenting on... it's because I can't get to it... :) I don't have the links right now. Once we get a new computer or fix the one that's dead I'll have them again... but until then that's why I'm quiet. :)
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Update on chores
I posted a while back about my new plan for chores for the kids. I have to say that parts of it have worked really well and other parts are still "works in progress". Last week when the kids were sick, we didn't really enforce any chores, but this week we've gotten back to them. Alex and Ashley are doing a great job at helping clear the dishes at night and help clean up the kitchen. They haven't quite gotten into the habit of making their bed, but their rooms are generally more picked up and I'm not seeing the piles of clothes on their floors that I was seeing before (though there may be piles hiding under stuff... I haven't investigated yet this week). They are taking care of their clothes more and instead of just tossing everything in the hamper they are thinking and looking at it to see if it is clean or dirty and putting it away correctly. They've realized the more clothes they toss in the hamper, the more clothes they have to put away after I've cleaned them. In a few more months when school is out they are going to start folding their clothes and sorting them too instead of just putting them away after they are sorted and folded. :)
They are responding pretty good to the group clean up effort in the afternoons. I've been trying to keep the little kids from having toys all over the front room before the big kids get home from school, so then the big kids are just asked to help the little ones pick up a few toys each night and it is a lot easier for them to feel that sense of accomplishment of doing the job together.
We still have a long way to go, but I'm excited that this time we seem to be working harder and it seems to be helping us change our habits and incorportate cleaning into our days without it being the power struggle it has been in the past.
They are responding pretty good to the group clean up effort in the afternoons. I've been trying to keep the little kids from having toys all over the front room before the big kids get home from school, so then the big kids are just asked to help the little ones pick up a few toys each night and it is a lot easier for them to feel that sense of accomplishment of doing the job together.
We still have a long way to go, but I'm excited that this time we seem to be working harder and it seems to be helping us change our habits and incorportate cleaning into our days without it being the power struggle it has been in the past.
My own trials of late
I love my children. I really really really do love my children. They are smart, beautiful, funny, and can turn me to mush with their hugs and kisses and funny antics. I am so fortunate to be able to be at home with them and play with them and teach them and spend so much time with them. They are normal kids and have good times and bad times. The scale is usually balanced between the good and the bad, but lately I've felt the balance tipping more on the bad side and I'm sure that increases my own feeling of being out of balance emotionally myself.
Last week the kids were sick all week and I was able to pull out the emotional reserves and give the love and compassion and sympathy and cuddling and physical and emotional support to them that they needed. This week I've found myself "dried up" with my emotional bucket more.
Angela has not been sleeping well since she was sick, and she has not been napping well at all since we moved her from her crib to a toddler bed. She won't lay down and sleep on it like she would her crib, and I can't get her to take naps until late in the day when it's really too late for her to take a good nap- or else she will be up till midnight or later.
Yesterday I broke down and put her in her room and let her close the door after trying to rock her to sleep for over an hour. She was overtired and over stimulated and I was quite frankly at the end of my rope with her that day. She wouldn't let me rock her to sleep, walk around and soothe her to sleep, or lay down with her to get her to sleep. She had also been up the night before for 2+ hours and we had slept upstairs on the couch after she fell asleep at 4am- so I was running on a short amount of sleep too. She of course cried herself to sleep, but within 10 minutes verses the hour of crying that we had already had while I was trying to soothe her to sleep. She only slept about 15 minutes and then woke up and then I held her and she fell fast asleep on my lap and I sat and held her for an hour while she slept. She woke up the moment I tried to stand up and put her down.
so... when the kids came home from school I was already tired... Alex and Ashley came home and were fighting and bickering, I let them turn on an x-box game hoping that would get them interested and stop fighting, but they still kept fighting. Alyssa walked in front of Ashley and Ashley was screaming at her to get out of the way, so I went to take her controller and give her a time out... which resulted in her kicking Alyssa and screaming more. Alex started screaming, so I turned the x-box off. Then he threw himself on the floor and was seriously throwing a tantrum that is usually a two year old's tantrum... kicking feet and pounding hands. So then I told them that I was fed up with the behaviour and they had lost all electronics- (tv; x-box; gameboy; movies; computer) for the rest of the week. It ended in my pulling out all the plugs and wires from the tv/stereo/xbox/satellite/dvd power strip and tossing the power strip up in my bedroom closet.
We might let them watch a movie with the babysitter Saturday night, but that's it. Monday at FHE we'll reevaluate things and decide on what basis they get some of it back.
So we had that great big blow-up at about 5:30 last night. Lucky for me I had a fridge full of leftovers so I just pulled those and warmed them up while I listened to the kids telling me that they were going to "tell Daddy" on me lol!! I don't know why they were surprised when Rich got home and they told him what happened that he told them he wasn't going to change anything.
Then we actually had a fairly relaxing evening... of course it didn't go completely bump free, but there were no major incidents and the kids went to bed at a decent time. I also went to bed early after the kids were all asleep and I had a little time to unwind.
Angela slept from 8:30 pm till 6:30 this morning... wooo hooo!!! She woke up in a bad mood though... whiney and cranky and clingy. I lost it again this morning when Alex poured a huge bowl of cereal, then tons of milk in it and then drank all the milk out of the bowl and left the cereal in the bowl. We really try to limit his milk because he would only drink milk and not eat anything else if we let him. He has enough problems with congestion and breathing with his allergies and asthma- and the milk makes it worse, so he usually just gets the milk with his cereal each day and occasionally a small glass of milk with dessert or something. So I was upset at him for basically circumventing the rules to get a big glass of milk, and wasting about two bowls worth of cereal to do that- along with Angela screaming and crying and climbing up my arm... Alyssa was whining and upset that the tv was "not working" and was whining and wanting to be held also, and while I was trying to get lunch made for the kids to take to school... and Rich came out of our room from getting himself ready for work and asked what the big deal was... I told him I was tired of fighting Alex on everything, and trying to do things one handed while kids were screaming to be held... and then went to our room.
Rich wisely made the kids lunches and I came out and had let the steam blow off and we got the kids onto the school bus. Of course Angela was still velcro'ed to me and I couldn't put her down. I hooked up the tv for Alyssa and Angela and now it's only taken me an hour to type this up in between getting things for the girls and sitting and watching Charlie and Lola with Angela... ::sigh:: I'll unhook the tv before the big kids get home, but it really was a loss of privileges for the big kids and not Alyssa, so I'm letting her spend some time watching it this morning to just get myself a break...
Last week the kids were sick all week and I was able to pull out the emotional reserves and give the love and compassion and sympathy and cuddling and physical and emotional support to them that they needed. This week I've found myself "dried up" with my emotional bucket more.
Angela has not been sleeping well since she was sick, and she has not been napping well at all since we moved her from her crib to a toddler bed. She won't lay down and sleep on it like she would her crib, and I can't get her to take naps until late in the day when it's really too late for her to take a good nap- or else she will be up till midnight or later.
Yesterday I broke down and put her in her room and let her close the door after trying to rock her to sleep for over an hour. She was overtired and over stimulated and I was quite frankly at the end of my rope with her that day. She wouldn't let me rock her to sleep, walk around and soothe her to sleep, or lay down with her to get her to sleep. She had also been up the night before for 2+ hours and we had slept upstairs on the couch after she fell asleep at 4am- so I was running on a short amount of sleep too. She of course cried herself to sleep, but within 10 minutes verses the hour of crying that we had already had while I was trying to soothe her to sleep. She only slept about 15 minutes and then woke up and then I held her and she fell fast asleep on my lap and I sat and held her for an hour while she slept. She woke up the moment I tried to stand up and put her down.
so... when the kids came home from school I was already tired... Alex and Ashley came home and were fighting and bickering, I let them turn on an x-box game hoping that would get them interested and stop fighting, but they still kept fighting. Alyssa walked in front of Ashley and Ashley was screaming at her to get out of the way, so I went to take her controller and give her a time out... which resulted in her kicking Alyssa and screaming more. Alex started screaming, so I turned the x-box off. Then he threw himself on the floor and was seriously throwing a tantrum that is usually a two year old's tantrum... kicking feet and pounding hands. So then I told them that I was fed up with the behaviour and they had lost all electronics- (tv; x-box; gameboy; movies; computer) for the rest of the week. It ended in my pulling out all the plugs and wires from the tv/stereo/xbox/satellite/dvd power strip and tossing the power strip up in my bedroom closet.
We might let them watch a movie with the babysitter Saturday night, but that's it. Monday at FHE we'll reevaluate things and decide on what basis they get some of it back.
So we had that great big blow-up at about 5:30 last night. Lucky for me I had a fridge full of leftovers so I just pulled those and warmed them up while I listened to the kids telling me that they were going to "tell Daddy" on me lol!! I don't know why they were surprised when Rich got home and they told him what happened that he told them he wasn't going to change anything.
Then we actually had a fairly relaxing evening... of course it didn't go completely bump free, but there were no major incidents and the kids went to bed at a decent time. I also went to bed early after the kids were all asleep and I had a little time to unwind.
Angela slept from 8:30 pm till 6:30 this morning... wooo hooo!!! She woke up in a bad mood though... whiney and cranky and clingy. I lost it again this morning when Alex poured a huge bowl of cereal, then tons of milk in it and then drank all the milk out of the bowl and left the cereal in the bowl. We really try to limit his milk because he would only drink milk and not eat anything else if we let him. He has enough problems with congestion and breathing with his allergies and asthma- and the milk makes it worse, so he usually just gets the milk with his cereal each day and occasionally a small glass of milk with dessert or something. So I was upset at him for basically circumventing the rules to get a big glass of milk, and wasting about two bowls worth of cereal to do that- along with Angela screaming and crying and climbing up my arm... Alyssa was whining and upset that the tv was "not working" and was whining and wanting to be held also, and while I was trying to get lunch made for the kids to take to school... and Rich came out of our room from getting himself ready for work and asked what the big deal was... I told him I was tired of fighting Alex on everything, and trying to do things one handed while kids were screaming to be held... and then went to our room.
Rich wisely made the kids lunches and I came out and had let the steam blow off and we got the kids onto the school bus. Of course Angela was still velcro'ed to me and I couldn't put her down. I hooked up the tv for Alyssa and Angela and now it's only taken me an hour to type this up in between getting things for the girls and sitting and watching Charlie and Lola with Angela... ::sigh:: I'll unhook the tv before the big kids get home, but it really was a loss of privileges for the big kids and not Alyssa, so I'm letting her spend some time watching it this morning to just get myself a break...
Enduring to the end.
A little while ago a friend of mine said this in a conversation.
and even though it was said with a light heart in a funny manner, it really is so true. We can have faith, and have a strong testimony of our Savior and know what is right, and what is wrong. But ultimately we have to endure through our trials, small and large and lean on our Savior to help us reach our goal of returning to live with our Father in Heaven.
I've been battling my own little trials lately. Some mental, some physical- nothing major, just little things. I know I just need to keep my focus steady and endure and lean on my Savior to help me through them.
"you know I get the faith part.... totally am understanding the repentance part and trying daily to do it..... I got the baptism part and even the Holy Ghost part... but it's the enduring part that is going to KILL me "
and even though it was said with a light heart in a funny manner, it really is so true. We can have faith, and have a strong testimony of our Savior and know what is right, and what is wrong. But ultimately we have to endure through our trials, small and large and lean on our Savior to help us reach our goal of returning to live with our Father in Heaven.
I've been battling my own little trials lately. Some mental, some physical- nothing major, just little things. I know I just need to keep my focus steady and endure and lean on my Savior to help me through them.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Silver Linings
I've got one child back at school today.
I feel a little bad about feeling happy that Angela is still a little sick. You see Angela does not take naps on a regular basis every day at a decent time. She is so excited and wants to play with her siblings so much that she just goes and goes and goes and then usually crashes and falls asleep on my shoulder when I'm cooking dinner at 6pm... of course I don't want her to really sleep then because I want her to sleep at night... so I let her sleep for 5 minutes and then wake her up- and try to convince her to be happy and eat dinner with us. Not really something I enjoy, but I have not been able to get her to take naps during the day on a consistent basis for the last few months after we moved her out of her crib.
This week she hasn't been feeling that great and she has taken naps almost every single day. She's also getting into a lot less around the house and I've been able to actually spend time during the day taking care of cleaning and laundry and stuff- normally I try to do all of it in the evening after she goes to sleep, becuase she is just so active I can't leave her alone otherwise...
So... I really am not happy that she's sick, but I am seeing the silver lining that I am actually getting things done this week because she is taking naps that are about 2 hours long. :)
I feel a little bad about feeling happy that Angela is still a little sick. You see Angela does not take naps on a regular basis every day at a decent time. She is so excited and wants to play with her siblings so much that she just goes and goes and goes and then usually crashes and falls asleep on my shoulder when I'm cooking dinner at 6pm... of course I don't want her to really sleep then because I want her to sleep at night... so I let her sleep for 5 minutes and then wake her up- and try to convince her to be happy and eat dinner with us. Not really something I enjoy, but I have not been able to get her to take naps during the day on a consistent basis for the last few months after we moved her out of her crib.
This week she hasn't been feeling that great and she has taken naps almost every single day. She's also getting into a lot less around the house and I've been able to actually spend time during the day taking care of cleaning and laundry and stuff- normally I try to do all of it in the evening after she goes to sleep, becuase she is just so active I can't leave her alone otherwise...
So... I really am not happy that she's sick, but I am seeing the silver lining that I am actually getting things done this week because she is taking naps that are about 2 hours long. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)