Mommy Needs a Break

It's been a busy week or two. I had a grant due for work (have almost put in 10 more hours than my norm for the pay period), hosted two play dates and one running group, ran lots o' miles, and generally just had a super busy life. Even though I thought I was keeping up on housework, I have four loads of laundry sitting in baskets waiting to be folded, a dishwasher full of clean dishes to put away, a sink full of dirty dishes to be put in the dishwasher, crumb covered couches, and kids with sticky faces (I swear I just gave them a bath yesterday but Piper clearly put ranch in her hair at some point). Oh housework. Oh never-ending housework! How did I ever manage to keep an even remotely clean house when I worked full time??

And I absolutely adore my children, but it really is hard when they want to play and I have to work. Mostly because they don't understand why mommy can't play with them right now. So they act out to get my attention. And I end up having to correct their behavior which doesn't make anyone happy. I really dislike being the "Bad Guy" as Danny calls me when he is getting reprimanded. I'm glad my grant for work has been turned in and now I can work when the kiddos sleep and/or are distracted by something else.

As for sleep, Danny seems to be doing a lot of that lately. He has been taking naps pretty regularly over the last two weeks. I'm guessing a growth spurt, but not positive. I think around 4 most kids go through a growth spurt; maybe Danny is just hitting his early. Yesterday he took his nap at 5pm - 8pm, though, and then was up until about 10:30pm. Then woke up this morning at 6:30am. He's been a little whiny and cranky today - and so have I. It has definitely been a rough (ish) day.

I put the kids in their rooms after lunch. Piper for a nap and Danny for a rest. I gave him the Ipad and let him play some games in bed while I watched War Horse. I'm about 1/2 way through it now and it's making me more emotional than I was before watching! Why a highly anxious person is watching a war movie is beyond me. Maybe because I didn't think it was going to be so war-y? I expected more horse. Less war. So far it's a really great movie. Even if it wasn't exactly what I expected. World War I was so incredibly awful. I doubt any war is a "good" war, but the use of gasses and barbed wire and just the general awfulness of it all gets to me every time.

On a happier note, today is also Derek and my 10th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe that we've been married for a whole decade. And that we were such babies when we got married!! I can't imagine a 20 year old Piper getting married!! Or a 21 year old Danny. Wow we were just small fries when we got married!! It has been a great 10 years, though. We have grown so much together and have become a great team. I can't imagine life without him. Love him!