Kids and Their Moods

Oh what a weekend! Let's just start this post by saying "Last week, all week, the kids had early release from school." Now let me tell you how much Friday sucked the soul from me. The kids, after spending so much extra time together (and fighting with each other through most of it) all week long woke up in a FINE mood. The arguments begun taking its toll on me within the first 15 minutes of them opening their eyes.

No. Seriously. It was that bad. And I really love my kids. I mean REALLY love my kids. But right then, so wasn't liking them.

I tried, in vain, to get them to settle down. I knew Kaylen, once she got to school would be ok. I also knew that Kelton, once he got to school, would not be. And, just like I predicted: he got himself into trouble several times over the course of his day. I feel so helpless when he comes home and says "Mom. I got into trouble today." My heart never fails to sinks.

When they arrived home, I heard "Mom. I got into trouble three times today." *sigh* Of course you did. I saw it coming a mile away. Instead of that, I asked why and how. And then we deconstructed the day and figured out ways he could have made better choices.

And then.....the kids started going at each other again. Kelton started going at me. He even got sassy with Stephanie (which he rarely does). He started in with Kaylen and it escalated from there. Stephanie and I put them on the couch and made them hold hands for 5 minutes. I'm still not sure if that new parenting strategy was a success or failure.

Sometimes I wish the kids came with bar codes to tell you their moods and, oh heck, while I'm dreaming, a template on the best strategies for dealing with them in that mood and the best bar code scanner money could buy. Wouldn't that be great? (It takes me back to my trying to get pregnant days when I thought a big bright dot on your forehead when you were ovulating would be VERY helpful but anyway....)

Then we packed and headed out to Stephanie's. Dakota and Vicki were going to pick them up from there. Things were no easier there.

Needless to say, when it was time to hand them over to Dakota for the weekend, I was overcome with relief....for all of us. The kids got new energy to deal with (and hopefully adults who were better equipped to deal with them at that point than I was after the very long week) and Stephanie and I had time to recharge our batteries.

Since we were out at Stephanie's, it was a quick decision to hit the hot tub to decompress. I felt MUCH better after soaking myself for about 40 minutes.

When I called the kids to say goodnight (because - oh yes! I went to bed before they were ready to go to bed), they were happy and all sounded well. They had gone to Rocky's Pizza and had a great time. I was so happy for them all....ok, well...for all of us.

And I am so happy there is only one early release this week. :)