Frustration

My father-in-law is in town for a work meeting this week and he is splitting his time doing work-ish things and hanging out with the kids things. Last night, he had a meeting (and today an all day conference), so I took him downtown to the hotel where he had a meeting and stayed the night (for his conference today). On the way there, D, my newly potty trained 3 year old, fell asleep. He had been acting out all day, so I was kind of happy he was getting a nap in since he will not willingly go down. I dropped my father-in-law off, and headed back home. I got lost MULTIPLE times. My GPS kept calling I-45S, 75S, so I was completely thrown off. I don't know if 75S really is I-45S or not, but I must have gotten lost about 5 times. I don't do well with getting lost. I'm pretty sure I was saying a slew of curse words under my breath. Little P didn't mind though because she was watching Dora the Explorer and was completely oblivious that we were circling blocks and cutting people off to try to get to exits.

I finally ended up on the correct Interstate (man! I wish Spokane with it's ONE singular Interstate!!!!) and got off at our exit. Whew! We made it! That was when D woke up SCREAMING. He couldn't tell me what was wrong; he was just screaming and crying. We were almost home, so I made the decision to just listen to the crying for a little longer and continue home. P is a sympathy crier, so she started crying too. It was ever so much fun! I pulled in, and jumped out, and got D out of the car. Turns out he had an accident and had wet his pants. I told him it was okay, gave him cuddles and took him (and P!) inside. I cleaned him up and we were good to go.

But my mood was FOUL. I was tired, hungry (it was 7pm by the time we made it home), and ready for little kids to be in bed. I made Hebrew National 97% fat free hot dogs, creamed corn, and a banana with a dash of cinnamon for supper. The corn was pretty good. I think next time I make it I'll add in a can of green chilles or a can of rotel. Or even some roasted red peppers would be good. After supper, the kids and I played trains and then I got them ready for bed. Of course, D and P wanted nothing to do with bed. After a big tantrum, I got P into bed, where she fell back asleep. D, on the other hand, was up every 10 - 15 minutes. He ended up having a bad tummy ache too, so he was in the bathroom about 5 times - poor guy! I was just TIRED and ready for him to go to bed so that I could go to bed. My patience was wearing thin.

The hubs came home about this time, and commented on my parking job. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back! I *know* I'm a bad parker, but I was dealing with two screaming, crying toddlers and trying to get them in the house and honestly didn't care how I was parking. That was about the last thing on my mind. I'm just glad I didn't just keep driving into the laundry room. I at least put it in park. AND the hubs could fit his car into the garage. Those are the things that matter: didn't crash into house and hubs had plenty of room to park. I guess I pulled forward too much though and made it hard to get into the house. Which, looking at it this morning, I did pull in pretty far. But last night, I was fuming. I decided at that point to just go to bed. Maybe I would wake up in a better mood.

You would think that getting 8 hours of sleep would help, but it really didn't. This morning, the kids were both being super needy. And I had a work deadline. So of course D was antagonizing P (stealing her toys, her blankie, her sippy cup; pushing her over; throwing blankets on top of her; etc; etc; etc), P was crying, and neither of them were listening to me at all. I tried talking to them, I tried time outs, I even ended up spanking D for pushing P into the brick fireplace ledge. No avail. Didn't matter. They were just being WILD! I know they just wanted my attention, but my goodness! It's beyond frustrating when you are trying to get something done by a certain time and the kids are not playing nicely together - or even by themselves - and not listening to you. At all.

The good news: I got my work done. The bad news: I'm still in a funky, foul mood. I had to wash D's carseat cover where he peed on it, but as soon as it is dry, I am putting in on and we are going to the gym. I have so much pent up frustration and anger, I feel like I could run 20 miles today! And maybe that's just what I need: to run. It's amazing how good it is for you mind and attitude. After a run, I feel accomplished and like I could take on the world; rejuvinated! Here's to hoping it works!