I don't know how I will do this on my own all school year...
Wesley came home once again grumpy b/c he has not gotten enough sleep the last few days. All he wants to do when he gets home is watch movies, play video games, computer games, etc. You get the point. I allow it for a while, but then we need to move on with our night! We have yet to find that balance of work and play, and boy does he show it with his grouchiness!
At 5:15pm, I put dinner on. Isaac is on his second dinner. Ideally, I would love to read some scriptures around the dinner table, but at this point, I am just trying to keep my boys from arguing with each other, goofing around, and actually EATING their food. Isaac gets cheerios stuffed down his mouth with his sippy cup as well.
5:45pm, struggle and warn Wesley to get in the shower. I help him get it started. He can do most of it on his own, but if I don't stay on him, he will just stand and let the hot water run out. He is just like me...I love a hot shower!
6:00pm, struggle and warn Austin to finish his food! Stop picking at it with your fingers, and pick up the spoon that has yogurt on it off of the floor.
6:05pm Wesley hops out, all steamy and hot. Austin and Isaac then get a turn in the bathtub. Austin is whining for the cup that I use to rinse of Isaac. Isaac is flapping around and thrusting his hips around in the water. He also want to roll over and drown!
6:10pm Get Isaac out and into PJ's. Austin comes out naked looking for me.
6:15pm. Wesley's turn to practice his reading. How does any parent do this every night while still entertaining the other kids? Austin is on my lap, covering up the pages and laughing. Wesley is frustrated b/c he can't concentrate. I send Austin to go get his own book, get dressed and help Isaac from crying. Isaac continues to roll around (he is exhausted at this point), and moan. I try to focus with Wesley and somehow we squeak out 15 min. of reading. Thank goodness he doesn't have homework at this point!
6:30pm. Austin then wants his turn to read. Threaten and encourage Wesley to go brush his teeth. Plop Isaac up on my lap while trying to read to Austin and avoid getting pages ripped by my babies chubby fingers. Isaac is still crying. Austin is asking SOOO many questions and I am still trying to "translate" Monster's Inc. into Spanish. Not an easy task. I begin to lose my patience...
6:35pm. Wesley's turn for a book. Austin refuses to brush his teeth. I start to pick up the wet towels, bounce Isaac and help Austin with his teeth.
6:38pm. Begin to read to Wesley. Start to nurse Isaac. Boys begin to play with Isaac's head...Don't touch him!!! Read the book two times through.
6:40pm. Lights out. Skipped prayers tonight. Ran out of patience and had an exhausted baby on one hip. Tell boys to stop talking or they will not get any homemade popsicles tomorrow (every night my nightly threats change, but the popsicles seem to work well for now).
6:45pm Finish nursing Isaac. Enjoy one last cuddle into those big brown eyes and long lashes.
6:50 pm More empty threats at my boys...breathe Adrienne...finish cleaning up the kitchen and wonder when the motivation will come to clean my floors?
7:20pm. Kids are still awake! Are you for real? Talk very firmly for Austin to stop standing on his bed and for Wesley to go to sleep. No more laughing boys!
How does any one person tackle all of the reading, homework, bathing, dinner, bedtime stories and tantrums? Plus get the kids to bed ON TIME b/c they have to get up at 6:45am? I am learning as I go, but I sure hope it gets easier as they get older!!! Breathe Adrienne....breathe...
7 comments:
Good luck on that!!! I dislike night time very much too! It seems that the whole day takes a toll, hang in there!
Ohhh I needed to read this post. I am worried about the next one but our jobs are so hard. Wasn't teaching so much easier??! I don't know how to make it any easier but we do have a special job! Good luck! If you find out any tips/tricks tell me!!! :)
Hang in there Adrienne. You can do this! And just remember....you don't have to do everything right everyday. Wesley will adjust and you will too. You are one of the few people I know who tend to embrace change and make the best of it. Most of us fight it kicking and screaming. :) Before you know it, you'll be in a smooth routine. Just give it time and expect some bumps in the road along the way. Love you!
{as a side note-I HIGHLY recommend the tubside bathseat available at Babies R Us and possibly Wal-mart...I received one from my sister at Gracie's baby shower and it is a life-saver for sure! It is for babies ages 5-10 months, you know, the very worst bath age where you can't leave the room for second for fear of your child drowning. The seat goes in the tub and clips onto the side. Both my girls LOVED it, they would play happily in the bath forever! WORTH the $$}
Check it out!
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2969577
Seriously, anything to gain a little more sanity!
You are doing a super job. Way to be consistent even when you receive full on opposition.
I think you just wrote my evening schedule out-- Its crazy isn't it!~ I put Victoria to sleep before I undertake to put the boys down. Here's a couple of ideas that work for us (mostly) Do scriptures in the morning with breakfast-- this seems to be a much less stressful time of day for us-- And then in the afternoon Ethan gets 20 minutes to "relax" and then he has to do homework- then we read together- because I can keep Jax occupied somewhere else this usually works for us. I also recommend putting them to bed at different times, you can alternate whos turn it is to "stay up" and just wait till the first one is asleep and put the second kid in there-- This USED to work great for me- now they are "scared" since there bedroom is MILES away from the rest of the house you know...
GOOD LUCK! If it makes you feel any better I FEEL YOUR PAIN!
I think some stuff gets easier as you get older ones because they help with the littler ones, read on their own, can get their own food, brush their own teeth, etc., except the older ones also bring different challenges, like problems with friends and emotional issues, and carpooling them around to all of their different functions. I guess I am trying to say it never is "easy". Good luck!
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