Go Play!

I have come to the determination that there are people who love hard work, and get some sort of satisfaction from working hard.  And there are people that don't.  I do not love hard work.  I do love a project that I can complete and look at it and say, "I did that!" but it has to be a). short and, b.)easy.  Mothering four children is hard work, and while I do enjoy my children, I do not enjoy the work that comes along with it for the most part.  LOL. This is a ridiculous statement I know.  I'm lazy by nature.  I guess God is changing me by making it impossible to be lazy.  If I chose to be lazy, everything falls apart, rapidly. And then I do not enjoy the chaos that happens as a result. Bleh.  Anywhoo.
Yesterday, I was doing my Monday thing, restoring the house to order after a weekend of everyone being home.  I was working and hadn't sat down since 7am except to drive to pick up B from preschool.  It was about 4pm, Q was home from school and I was starting dinner and I was just about to throw something because I was sick of working. 
Q finished his homework and it was a beautiful day outside.  He begged to play on the computer.  I said no. He whined, and I told him to go play outside.  He whined again.  "Will you play with me?" *sigh* I have too much to do.  The baby will be up any minute, I have to finish dinner...I had a list of excuses.  But I agreed.  We went out back and played the 'usual'.  Baseball.  AND, I had a blast! Seriously.  Pitching the ball and then trying to run down my four and seven year olds as they got to base was like therapy to me.  It was like a weight was lifted, and we laughed and ran around like, well, four and seven year olds.  Then Scott returned home from his vacation day at work, and continued playing.  I over cooked the chicken for my chicken and dumplings, but it was well worth it.  I was more than happy to continue the chores for the day. This phenomenon happened to me one day last week when I decided to teach them how to play "T.V. tag."  A great game the whole family could play together.
I'm very sure that this is not a new discovery and that everyone knows it.  To really enjoy my family, I have to play too.  I can't just focus on the daily grind of getting things done.  I have to take time and play. Hopefully, taking a little bit of time to play won't cause the house to go into chaos.  
Remarkable how long its taken me to realize this.

Small Victories

Having four blessings has changed me.  I rarely leave the house unless I absolutely have to these days.  Sometimes, I think it might be a bit of depression, but I largely think because I am more afraid of my children's behavior when we leave the house.  My two year old, has no fear (except of heights), and doesn't listen, which makes it rather unsafe sometimes to take him out. 
I've been feeling defeated about it, but I realized that I let my overwhelmedness consume me and shut me down.  It happens a lot.  But I had had enough of my feeling of hopelessness about my kids behavior lately and have decided, its time to clear the fog, and DROP THE HAMMER! 
I've been working on the middle two boys behavior for a couple of weeks at home.  Being super concious of providing consequences and not ignoring disobediance and being consistent.  Which sucks by the way.  I'm sorry to all my clients whom I have rolled my eyes at (in my imagination)when they failed to be consistent... Yes, being consistent is hard work.  It sucks, especially when I just want to sit here and sip my beloved coffee.  But my laziness cannot trump the importance of my kids behavior and heart issues.  So, yes.  I've sorta gone boot camp on them.  I always used to tell my clients to get their behavior under control at home first and then attempt outings.  So, I've been doing that and decided to get out of the house and go to the mall to let these two run a muck a bit, and pick up some vitamins.  And it went ok.  I was in a funk yesterday though.  Feeling rather wiped because D had been up for 3 nights in a row with either a stomach virus or a reaction to antibiotics or just plain feeling crappy, and I forgot what interrupted sleep does to me.  I just felt out of it and moody.  While I was there, feeling rather lifeless, I prayed that God would give me a little gift to show me that my efforts today (and everyday) were worth it. And as we walked through the Sears a woman remarked at how beautiful my boys were and how well behaved they were.  I had to smile.  Not that I live for the approval of others, but it was enough to encourage me.  They did look pretty cute.  B adorning his faux hawk and JD chose to wear swim goggles on his head as his 'glasses'.  He chose to walk instead of ride the bus (my double stroller), and he did a great job of not touching things and obeying.  Which is a huge improvement.  So, the small victories I will take.  And keep going. 

A birthday tradition

Today is my birthday, and my family does not disappoint in carrying through our tradition.  For the last four years, some kid of mine or I have vomited on my birthday (and all due to stomach bugs).  This time its B's turn to deliver my birthday gift.  YAY! Note previous birthday gifts~
And true to March 6 fashion, we're expecting a winter storm.  Its either been snowing or wintry mixing on my birthday, for as long as I can remember.  Good times!
We've been dealing with stomach issues a lot lately in our house.  Not viruses, but Q has had an upset belly for weeks and eventually stopped eating much of anything.  When I took him to the doctor, he told me he doesn't think anything is wrong, and to wait another couple weeks to see if it will go away.  I hate that answer.  I was initially OK with it, but then as I watched Q become a shadow of himself, and just lay around and not eat, the more I needed to do something.  We did try some miralax over the weekend with him, and are waiting to see if that helps.  I understand not wanting to do unneeded testing, but come on.  This same doctor has lectured me about being late for appointments, when I hadn't been late, it just took the front desk forever to get to me to check me in as I stood in line.  He also openly questioned a mother of newborn twins why she was 30 minutes late (in front of a waiting room full of people).  When she barely spoke English and said she "Lost herself", I wanted to punch the doctor in the face! The nerve.  I can't tell you how many times I've waited at least an hour to be seen by him.  So on Friday, when I saw him run into the office front door 20 minutes PAST my appointment time with him, it was HIS turn to be questioned.  I very respectfully and calmly asked him if he "cared to explain himself and why he was late".  Which is his very own wording when someone else is late.  Argh.  I'm contemplating switch doctors, or at least having a conversation with.
Sorry for a random ranty post. It's really all I'm good for these days, so I rather not post.  I just had to document that my Happy Birthday Vomit struck again.
Well, happy March.