You know what every mom needs after a relaxing, pampering, self care evening? To wake up the next day to children trying to physically hurt each other with drumsticks. And not the delicious chicken kind of drumsticks, but hard plastic – will do damage to front teeth- kind of drumsticks.
And in the midst of said stick battle, how many times can a mother scream- so loud the dogs run and hide- before a human listens? Well today, that answer would be 12. It took 12 times of me yelling the exact same thing before my children stopped hitting each other. And even then, they didn’t do what I had been asking them to do.
It was just another epic battle morning.
It actually started with my kids behaving and getting themselves dressed without an issue, but as soon as it became time to put shoes on to actually leave the house, then it went down hill. My son absolutely has to have everything his way. Which to a certain degree I can understand and appreciate his conviction. But when he wants to put on his shoes by himself, but can’t and then cries for help, but then when you try to help he screams that he wants to do it himself- well then I’m just confused. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t win.
And my daughter… well she is older, more mature, and much wiser than me… just ask her! She is 7 going on 17, and regardless of the situation, believes she can help by putting in her two cents. Which usually ends up in my son freaking out that she needs to mind her business.
And honestly I can’t argue with his logic here either.
The worst part of these rough mornings, is that I feel like all of my work focusing on myself and my emotional health is thrown out of the window. A little journaling and mediation the night before is no match for my kids and their tantrums. I feel the stress build right back up quicker than I can say drumstick. So what do you do when you feel like you’re back to square one?
You keep going. You move past the craziness and the drama of the moment, take a deep breath, and remind yourself that life is more than that one moment. You keep trying. You keep taking care of yourself, and you keep doing the things that bring calm to your soul. Because even though it may feel like all of your hard work can be ruined by a bad day, it really can’t. You have set the foundation to success, and every time you try again, you build a habit that will continue to help you through the rough times.
Because there will always be more epic drumstick battles.
It’s About Time 