I Blame it on the Time Change

I'm going to start and end this post on a positive note!

The middle of the post contains some venting!

My boys have been pretty difficult today. I really think it is mostly because of the time change. I've kept them up a little later so that they would sleep later in the morning and get used to the new hours. But it has made them both super cranky.

Peter was such a handful today. Honestly, he was defiant the moment he got out of bed this morning. It didn't help that I stayed up late last night (I know, I know. I've got to stop doing that...but it's the only time I ever have to myself! So, it's hard to give up). I didn't feel tired and I wasn't lacking patience as a result of sleep deprivation. Honestly, what made today rough for me was that it was one of those days where I just wanted to do more things for myself--things that I personally wanted or needed to do. Does that make sense? Kids are pretty perceptive and I think it was pretty obvious to Peter that I wasn't really in the mood to play...I wanted to do other things. And I think that made him feel neglected and unimportant...which made him mad. This led to me feeling frustrated because when a kid is seeking attention, they often do it in maddening ways.

I folded the laundry and he kept walking over the laundry piles to mess them up. He yelled at Jonathan repeatedly even though he knows he isn't supposed to do that because #1, it scares Jonathan and makes him cry and #2, it's just not nice to yell at people! Peter was playing with a toy instrument/whistle thing. He was blowing it right in Jonathan's face. I asked him not to blow the whistle in Jonathan's ear...so what does he do? He puts the end of the whistle actually in Jonathan's ear and blows hard before I can get to him and stop it. I lost track of how many time-outs Peter had today.

The messiest act of defiance for today? Peter was hungry a little before lunch time and he asked for some yogurt. I have become really wary of yogurt with Peter. For some reason, he's really good with it for a day or two and then he just tries to make messes with it. I wasn't even planning on buying him yogurt, but he saw it in the grocery store and wanted it so badly and asked so sweetly that I thought I'd give it another try. He did really well this time around. He ate it and enjoyed it and didn't make messes with it...until today.

I got Peter his yogurt for a snack and then went into the other room to make him his actual lunch. While I was making his lunch, I quickly ate mine as well (it's just easier that way a lot of the time). When I returned to bring him his lunch, this is what I saw:

Above: What you see here is no remorse. He knows better and he knows that he shouldn't make messes like this. His hair was caked in yogurt, yogurt was spread all over the coffee table, Peter's body, and Jonathan's body.

Above: I took these two pictures because I knew that at some point I would find it funny...but I didn't particularly think it was funny at the time. It was also a way of providing proof of how crazy my days can be. This happened within 5-10 minutes. I can tell you that it took longer than 5 minutes to clean up!

Aye yai yai. I had to put both boys in the bath, of course. As soon as I got them both cleaned up and in diapers, I put Jonathan into his crib to keep him out of the way while I cleaned up and Peter got put in time out. When I initially put them in the bath, I could see Peter's mind working. He was thinking that it was pretty cool that making a mess like that got him the reward of some fun bath time. I didn't want him to feel like making messes earned him rewards, so bath time was really short and time out was a little longer than normal (basically because it took me longer than 3 minutes to clean up that mess!).

It was all pretty frustrating.

I just need to be patient. It's so hard. I can't tell you how hard it has been not to have a kitchen of my own over the past three years. My in-laws are very gracious and have offered their kitchen to me at any time I have needed it. But we are in the basement and the kitchen is on the floor above us. The floor that the kitchen is on is not baby proofed and my mother-in-law is a psychologist and often has clients upstairs, so I can't just bring my boys upstairs at any time. They would make too much noise and get into too many dangerous (or breakable) things. Now, when you see the mess my boys made when I was just around the corner within earshot, can you imagine what would happen if I went upstairs to make them breakfast or lunch every day? Yikes.

So, out of necessity, I have fashioned a makeshift mini kitchen in their garage/workroom/storage room (it's not a garage in the traditional sense because it doesn't house cars and doesn't even have an opening large enough for a car to drive through--just a regular door--but they call it the garage). In the garage, I have two mini-fridges and a microwave. I have a card table set up where I set my slow cooker, toaster oven, and sandwich maker. I have tupperwares with food in them because I don't have cupboards. I have to fill gallon jugs with water on a weekly basis because they only have soft water in the basement and it really isn't supposed to be drunk (children, and babies especially, are not supposed to drink soft water because of the salt in the water softener).

Because of Jeremiah's new job (which he started in July), we are finally able to start saving for a house. We estimate that we will be able to get into a house in late winter or early spring. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to having a place--and kitchen of my own. A kitchen that has an open view of the family room. A kitchen where my kids can eat...instead of eating in front of the TV everyday. A kitchen where I can watch my kids playing in the family room while I make their food and where I can avert these types of shenanigans before they go too far. A kitchen with water and a big fridge so I don't have to lug water from upstairs every week. I just hope and pray that such a dream isn't too far off. I can't tell you how many crazy financial setbacks have been thrown at us since Jeremiah started his new job. I'm grateful for his new job because we've been able to pay things off and stay out of debt, but it has made saving up difficult, that's for sure.

I just have to be patient and have faith. I have to remind myself that I won't be here forever and someday I will have a place of my own.

And I have to remind myself that I'm not the only one who has ever gone through this. Jeremiah has a picture of himself as a baby where he somehow climbed up and obtained a box of cornstarch and spilled that all over himself, the carpet, the tile, etc.

My grandma shared a story in her journal of how my dad--when he was a little less than two--got into a cupboard and spilled a brand new 5 lb. container of HONEY all over the cupboard, himself, and the kitchen. Can you imagine what a pain 5 lbs. of honey would be to clean up? Even a teaspoon of honey is a sticky yucky mess to clean! Poor grandma!

My mom tells legendary stories about me and my brother, Clayton. We got into all sorts of scrapes. We opened and spilled a huge bag of dried beans from our food storage once upon a time. According to my mom, she found stray beans for months afterwards. We shook the flock (the white stuff they put on Christmas trees to make it look like it was a snow-covered tree--it was popular in the 60's through 80's) off of our Christmas tree while we were being babysat--driving our poor babysitter to tears. I still have a vague memory of a blonde teenage girl in tears with flock sticking to her eyelashes. And she may not have even been blonde! Maybe her hair was covered in flock and my memories have turned her hair white blonde as a result!

The most infamous story is what happened one time when my Dad was babysitting me and my brother. My mom had to go to something for church. She told my Dad that she had made tacos for dinner and all of the taco fixings were on the counter so that he could assemble his own tacos and then put them away. My Dad ate his dinner and then settled down to watch a BYU game--neglecting to put the taco stuff away. He isn't really like this anymore, but back in the day, if a BYU game was on, nothing else in the world existed. He didn't really pay attention to what we were doing. All he knew is that we weren't crying or fighting, so we must be okay, right? But it's the silence that is the dead give away. Kids get quiet...really quiet...when they do something that they know they shouldn't do. So, while my Dad lay on the ground in front of the TV watching the BYU game, Clayton and I removed the cushions from the couch and decided to assemble our own taco bar inside the couch. We had our fun with the taco fixings and then lost interest and moved on to other things. It was awhile before my Dad discovered what we had done (after all, BYU games are pretty long)...but when he did discover it, you can imagine that he was none too pleased.

Kids are the best thing in the world. But they are also soooo much work! I love my boys with all of my heart. But why can't they always just play like this:

Or like this:

Or like this:

Or like this:

I guess that's the key to sanity as a mother. You have to focus on the good times. I took this picture just last night. Peter and Jonathan were having so much fun together. Jonathan and Peter were both laughing and laughing. They were so happy...and I was so happy.

And I guess that's another key to averting disasters such as the yogurt fiasco...as a mother, you have to be selfless. It's something I'm learning, but I still have so much more to learn. Like many other things in life, it's a constant battle. You have to try every day to think of others more than yourself and to give your all to your little family. You really have to put your kids before yourself. You have to remind yourself (and it's so hard sometimes) that if your kids really, really need the attention, the laundry can wait...and the things you want to do personally for yourself can wait too (just don't stay up too late after they go to bed to get those things done!). And it's all about the timing. There are many times when Peter is blissfully playing with his toys or engrossed in a kids' show and he could care less if I'm folding laundry or not. He doesn't require (or want) me to play with him all the time. But today, he needed it and I thought of my wants more than his...which only brought about disaster for all of us!

I finally got it figured out by the evening. We all had dinner and things settled down. I got on the ground and played with my boys...and they weren't cranky anymore. They were happy. We had good times and it was a great night.

Life has so many lessons to teach...and I still have so many lessons to learn!