The Challenges of Today

Sometimes being a Mother is a lot like riding a roller coaster - lots of ups and downs. For some reason my kids had my emotions all over the place today - I went from irate to proud, laughing to crying. I love my kids - all of them, all the time, but boy sometimes I can't decide if I would rather strangle or hug those little necks. Today Anna was at her best and so was Taylor.

Anna is my messiest child. She doesn't like to clean. And she doesn't often do things she doesn't like so her bedroom is pretty much a perpetual disaster zone. But for some reason she got up and decided to clean her room. She told me she was going to do it. I didn't think much of it because quite frankly I didn't believe her but about 1/2 hr later I walked in to find a spotless room with her bed neatly made. I didn't think she knew how to make her bed, but it looked perfect. I was so happy. She spent the whole day helping me and being rather pleasant (this is not always the case). Rick likes to call her a princess - sometimes she fits the name other times she could easily be mistaken for a wicked stepsister. Today was a princess day.

Taylor also decided to be helpful today. He did what I ask him to do and didn't argue or complain. He is really growing up. I have noticed lately how kind he can be and patient. He takes good care of Rachel and tolerates Ryan tagging along better and better each day. He wrote a letter to Grandma and Grandpa today, he read it to me. It was so thoughtful and well written I was blinking back tears. He also has been wanting to show me this really cool thing he heard on youtube. I usually avoid such things like the plague. They always turn out to be something like Charlie the Unicorn, Gummy Bears or something else of that caliber. But I finally let him share it with me. It was a piano and cello duet. Love Story meets Viva La Vida (or something like that). It was actually really pretty. Taylor loved it, he was so impressed with the music and how it was played. I was thrilled that he is finally developing some taste. He told me he was going to practice so he could play like that someday. I was proud. Some days being a Mom has priceless rewards.

Taylor and Anna had a great day, Rachel made up for them however. My Dad told me she is so naughty she is cute. He got the naughty part right. And I guess that she really is a cute little thing - and smart too. She always knows just how to push my buttons and then smile sweetly enough I end up hugging her instead of strangling her. She holds the record for my most disobedient child. We just always seem to be at odds.

Today started swimming lessons. When I called everyone to get ready and get in the car she ran to get her suit. I picked her up and reminded her for the thousandth time she wouldn't be swimming. She started her temper tantrum at that point. I called Taylor to come help me get everyone in the car. He was racing up the stairs and said sure but I have to go to the bathroom first. That was a blow, because from past experience I could tell from the way he was walking I could either wait for his help and be late or go with out him. He has inherited his Father's pooping speed. So I went ahead and left.

Rachel cried and kicked and whined the entire way to the pool, as soon as she saw the water she quit crying and sweetly told me she was ready to obey. Which was a big relief because I was struggling with her, all our towels, shoes, snacks etc, a stroller, and three anxious kids. I was trying to find a spot to camp, get a chair before they were all taken and listen to the director tell me where my kids were supposed to go. So I let my guard down and trusted Rachel's repentance and put her down. She immediately ran, I chased her but she got in ankle deep in the water. Her tennis shoes were soaking. So I put her under my arm and headed back to listen to the level assignments. She then started complaining about how thirsty she was and she needed a drink right now. I told her I would get her one after we got the kids in their right classes. I guess she really was thirsty because she reached down took of her shoe and drank the water out of it. I tried to grab it from her but I was holding so much stuff and she was still laying horizontal under one of my arms that I couldn't reach her without dropping everything. I warned her she better stop, I think she could tell I was losing it because she finally put her shoe down and smiled at me. I relaxed and shifted my attention back to the swim lessons. I felt her wiggling and looked down to see her drinking her other shoe. I gave up at that point. Pool water stained brown from the dirt and sweat of her tennis shoes probably wouldn't kill her - make her sick maybe but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be fatal.

I finally got the kids in their spots, and found a spot to camp for the next hour while I wrestled with Rachel while the kids learned to swim. I set Rachel down and again she ran. I chased her around and around the pool - she can run fast enough that I have to really work to get her. The instinct is to reach out and stop her by grabbing her hair. I don't think a good mother goes around yanking her babies hair so I tried to get close enough to grab her shoulders. I ended up not being a good mother. I got her and put her in the stroller buckled up the straps and told her she was sitting there till the first lesson was over. She wasn't happy - the whole pool knew it. I got my ipod out to cover up her screaming but as soon as she spotted it she stopped crying and sweetly ask me if she could listen to it. I debated for a second. I decided to be courteous to my fellow swim lesson moms and let her listen. She sat there for quite a while listening to Alice Cooper, Coldplay and Eupore. I was so grateful for headphones. Thankfully no one else was privy to my baby's playlist. Every time she opened her mouth to whine I shoved a piece of taffy in it. The rest of the lesson was pretty peaceful. I guess she had enough of the the stroller because she actually stayed where I told her to for the second lesson. We got home with a bit of my dignity in tact.

I had some things I needed to work on downstairs. I was moving the furniture around to make room for our new Foosball table and projector. It was a big job. Rachel wanted to help, I voted that she take a nap. I lost, she won. She organized all the DVDs- all the ones that were on the shelf where they were supposed to be- she got down and put in piles on the floor of which ones were hers and which ones were Anna's. The basement was a big job, it took most of the afternoon. Rachel disappeared for a while and since I also needed to look for a cabin to rent on the Internet I was trying hard to get the basement done in time to do that before Rick got home. After a while Rachel reappeared in her swim suit. It was wet so apparently she had gone swimming somewhere. I decided to block that thought from my head and worry about it later. Finally she was screaming at me, my back was screaming at me so I quit and went up stairs. It was then that I realized she could have been swimming on my kitchen floor for how much milk there was all over it. The bathroom could have also been a swimming possibility. I guess the spilled milk made her hands sticky so she went to wash them. There was no soap left in the dispenser so she (and Ryan) decided to get the gallon refill out and refill the soap dispensers.

Anyway I started cleaning up those messes and held my tongue.

Rachel really wanted to take her dolls for a walk and was mad I wouldn't let her go out alone. I locked the door which always frustrates her plans. I started in on my cabin search but couldn't concentrate a whole lot. Between playing referee to fighting kids, answering the phone, the door and listening to Rachel beg me to take her for a walk I was having a hard time. I gave up when she started crawling on my holding my arms so I couldn't' "wiggle" the mouse. I remembered that I needed to pass out some fliers for an Elders quorum social Rick is in charge of so I took Rachel and we set out to walk around the neighborhood passing out fliers. Anna came to and was a wonderful little helper. Rachel on the other hand wasn't. I can't figure out why the doors that looked the most appealing to her always seemed to belong to a High Priest who didn't need a flyer. That was a fight to get her to do the doors I wanted her to do.

We made it to the top of the hill and then we came to Kate's house. Kate could be called a cat lady. Rachel went ballistic. She loves cats. I hate cats. She ran for them. Something must be wrong with Kates cats because they didn't run away. I was freaking out, I was so scared Rachel was going to catch a cat. She did too. She picked it up and started carrying in around. I didn't know what to do, I yelled at her to drop it. She wouldn't she just started running from me carrying this crying cat. I was so afraid it would attack her. I was begging her to drop the thing but the closer I got to her the faster she ran. Cats make me very uneasy - borderline scared even. So I wanted to catch Rachel but didn't want to get near the cat. Finally I got her and she let it down. I was almost hyperventilating at this point. But I was got control of myself and we turned to walk away when she spotted another cat. The whole thing started over again. She caught the dumb cat and carried it around while I begged her to put it down. I was frantic at this point. She just kept yelling - No I like cats, live cats. I am sure the neighborhood was watching the whole spectacle through cracked blinds. Looking back I am sure the whole things was hilarious. I was truly terrified. Well I managed to catch her, (not in the good mom fashion again) and shook the cat out of her arms. I picked her up and marched her home praying no cat germs got on me.

I waltzed her into her room swearing she would never touch another cat as long as she lived and plopped her on her bed. I glared at her daring her to get up - she is smart enough to know when to stay put. So I shut the door walked out and tried to tune her screaming out while I started dinner. I got a hold of myself and got the kitchen cleaned, the table sat and hamburgers on the grill before she came tiptoeing out of her room. It wasn't' long before Rick was to get home that I went to check the burgers only to realize the grill was out - the gas can empty. I headed for the spare. It was empty too. Could anything else go wrong today I thought. I quickly realized that of course it could it wasn't even 7 o clock yet I still had plenty of time for things to go wrong. I pulled out the George Foreman grill and braced myself for the whining about how the burgers don't look "right". I was going to cover them with cheese so the kids couldn't tell the were different than usual - but we were out. Somehow I got through dinner alive and then started in on fhe. We didn't get done till 10:00 though and I rejoiced when it was time to put the kids to bed. It is always so wonderful to put the kids to bed on a day like today.

I tried to be careful while moving furniture but my back and legs are aching - my throat is still sore and my emotions are frazzled. All that furniture moving, Rachel chasing and wrestling has worn me out physically and emotionally. Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to show for it either. I got the Foosball table stuck in stairs and had to wrangle it out again leaving a huge gash on my wall. Rick needed to get behind the entertainment center to check which cables he needed to buy for our new projector. So he moved it (pretty effortlessly), which was frustrating since I had spent the better half of the afternoon moving it. So I still have to move it back again. Tonight my bed is looking like my best friend. But if I was a responsible mother I would do a load of laundry, start the dishwasher, read a story and fetch a glass of water before heading for bed. I guess I am not really that responsible - i am off the bed. I need a good 6 hours so I can get up and start this all over again.