Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The day that made me want to resign...

Sunday. It's a very busy day for us. We have morning church, lunch, naps, and evening church. This past Sunday, we threw in a pre-church egg hunt.

My kids were excited. I was excited for them. It should've been great fun. Donald was out of town...how dare he miss the excitement?

Eggs were spread all over the lawn.

On your mark.

Get set.

GO!!

Kids were running everywhere...like mini-Hoover vaccuum cleaners sucking up as many eggs as they could get their hands on. It was chaotic. It was over in two minutes.

Ella tells me that she wants to do it again. I tell her that it's over and we can't do it again. Her response: 'I didn't get enough eeEEE-GGGGGGGGGGGGSSSSSSS!!'

"Well, Ella, if you got them all, no one else would have any and they would be sad. You can't have them all, you have plenty."

[stomping feet] 'But I want mmmOOORRRRe!! I only got SEVEN!!!'

[taking basket away] "Now you'll have none because you've acted so ugly."

Evan didn't really care...but she cried all the way to class. Sigh.


And that drama wasn't enough.

When I went to pick the kids up after church, Evan wasn't where he was supposed to be, and Ella put me on hold because she wasn't finished playing with play-dough. I wasn't holding for her to clean it up...I was holding for her to make more teddy bears. I explained to her that when Mom comes to get her, it's time to go...everyone is hungry and ready to come home. She didn't care. I told her bye and walked out of the room - that got her attention. She cried, but she found her shoes and followed me out of the room and said, 'I DON'T EVEN HAVE MY PAAAAAAAAAAAPEEERRRRRRRSSSSS!'

What is her problem today? I wondered. I took her by the arm to the restroom where we had a 'hands-on' discussion...she stuck close by from that point.

During all of this, Evan was in the lobby with my grandparents. He was running around crazy. By the time I had dealt with Ella, he was going from room to room picking up toys. Papaw tried to get him to return a toy; Evan just threw the toy down and plopped in the floor. I got him to do it, but he wasn't happy about it.

We made our way back towards the doors, stopped to put on jackets and Evan ran off again. I found him at the other end of the preschool wing, sitting in a rocking chair, laughing and having a great time. By this point, I had HAD it. I picked him up, all 34lbs of him, and carried him the rest of the way out.

Argh!!

I don't know if they have spring fever. I don't know if the moon was full. I don't know if it was because daddy was out of town. But I DO know that Satan found a way to push my buttons and ruin my day...he used my kids.

My granny said, 'This too shall pass.'

I said, 'I hope it passes in about 10 seconds because I'm about to resign my position as mother.'

I did tell the Asst. Preschool Director that I was about to quit my job. She looked at me so puzzled, she knows I don't work (full-time outside the home anyway). The job I wanted to quit at that moment was being a mom.

My grandparents helped me get the kids to the car. I got them in and Papaw told them that he had never seen that side of them and he was not happy with them. He told them that they have to obey mommy. He gave me a big hug which sent me into tears. It was bad. Before we pulled off the parking lot, I stopped and told the kids to look closely at the tears they had caused. This sent Ella into tears, and Evan said, 'Aw, don't worry. It's ok mama, we sorry.'

If hubby had been home, I can assure you that I would've left the house for the afternoon for some sort of 'therapy' alone.

I am not proud of this, but it happened.

And I think most moms have 'those days'.

Well...maybe not June Cleaver.

14 comments:

Heather said...

When mine were little and my husband had to be gone they too would act up. It is their way of handling it and it has nothing to do with you. It took me a long time to realize that. And when daddy has to be gone having other things that throw them off (like easter egg hunts--which I hate because they turn everything into a frenzy and the kids get all selfish which is NOT a good thing in a church) well it just makes things harder. You did fine, and it is over, and now you can focus on the next thing. :)

ToolSmartz said...

I'm sorry, DD.

I know there's days like this, and that's when I really wish we were closer.

It WILL pass... then there'll be other issues to face... buck up Boo-boo. :-)

They're really good kids - even if I do say so meself.... but we ALL have "those days".

Amy said...

We all have those days....My boys are now fifteen and twelve and I still feel like quitting some days.:)
We can't be June Cleaver. She only had to deal with her kids for 30 minutes a week (minus the time for commercials). Not to mention Wally and the Beav were given a script to follow.:)It didn't allow for random temper tantrums.:)
You are not alone, and it will definitely pass.
Praise God!:)

Brittany said...

"This too shall pass"-- sometimes that sentence just makes me even more mad. ha ha. People tell me this all of the time. And while I know it's true, it still stinks that the problem is happening!

We all have days where are kiddos drive us nuts!!

Keep your head high! :)

Kelli said...

I hear you! And theres nothing I can say to make it better, even that I have been there doesnt seem enough. or that it will pass, I hate those times. Good luck. It was probably a combo of dad gone, egg hunt, hungry tired children.

Sorry you had to go through that and on a SUNDAY!

Angie @ KEEP BELIEVING said...

And I think most moms have 'those days'. - Umm yeah, I have days like this DAILY!!!! Sometimes I have multiple days like this in the same day. Today is one of those.

KEEP BELIEVING

Are You Serious! said...

♥ I can totally relate! I hate it when they do it on Sunday too. The one day to be edified and uplifted getting squashed... TOTALLY UNDERSTAND! I've had thoughts of quitting my "job" FULL TIME IN THE HOME! :)

I hope next sunday is overly pleasant and enriching for you!

Vashonnte said...

gosh your kids are so cute! i see so much of you! they are adorable! it sounds like you had quite the busy day! xoxoxo

Beth Cotell said...

I feel like quitting many times during the day but then they do something cute and I am ready to give it another go!

Hang in there! And my mom says it all the time too, "And this too shall pass."

Kellan said...

Oh, I have those days - FOR SURE!!! I have picked up many a child and dragged them home! The egg hunt sounded fun - sorry it went down-hill for you - that sometimes happens to me too.

Hope you have a good day - Kellan

Anonymous said...

Amen Sister! We get put on "hold" nearly every Sunday because I am usually the first to pick up so she feels like she can't leave, "yeah you can start walking sister" is usually my response.

Anonymous said...

Oh Tina! I'm so sorry to hear that you had a bad day. I know it doesn't help to hear that we all have them and that "This too shall pass" - especially during the moment.

You've got great kids and you're a great mom and you guys just had a bad day!!

Maybe the good news is that you got it all out of the way and the rest of the week will be blissful!!

((HUGS))
Yvette

Unknown said...

Yeah, June Cleaver, indeed! Oh honey, I am so with you. I had a ton of days like this. My youngest is nine now, so the issues are different! :-)

Anyway, our church has it's Easter Egg hunt after church Sunday (and it will be freezing).

Noodle said...

Ah, girl. I totally know where you're coming from. I had one of those days yesterday.

Everyone got sent to bed early (including me!) so that we could just have a do-over today. Today was MUCH better, so I guess it worked. :)