Thursday Thoughts: Enjoying Your Kids...Even When They Drive You Crazy!

Mr. Mouse quietly tip-toes to the side of my bed. He stares at me for a moment before stroking my arm and then I hear, “Mommy? Mommy? You wake?” Oh sweet boy…it’s only 6am. Do I look awake? UGH!! My feet hit the floor in utter protest, yet they carry me to the restroom to make myself presentable. I wipe my tired eyes and splash my face with water. I’ve got to wake up. My weary feet carry me down the hall to the kitchen and then I hear my daughter awaken. “Mommy? Mommy? Baby?” How can you resist those sweet, sweet voices in the morning? (Or anytime really?) Nevermind the fact that it’s only 6:20am and all the rest of the normal world is still asleep. By 6:45am all 4 kiddos have awakened and are ready for breakfast. I suppose I should feed them and get our day going. They’re not going back to sleep anyway!

Mr Mouse cheesing for the camera - Silly boy!

So, we move forward. I begin to run a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher, change diapers, get them dressed and begin my other daily chores. The day’s not looking too bad now…I’m on a roll. Go me! Go me! Then, I sit down to nurse the baby. All is going well until I notice my son is climbing the entertainment center to locate his new favorite movie and my older daughter has used my office chair to climb onto the desk and locate an ink pen (her latest fascination). I tell my son to get down before he falls, my daughter to quite writing on herself (she draws on her hands if she can’t find paper-silly girl), all while trying to maintain a latching position that doesn’t harm me or the baby! Okay…maybe today’s not going to be a piece of cake. HA! What was I thinking?

Bad new: These are all the noodles I had. Good News: They were
having great fun eating them off the floor!

Finish feeding the baby and get her settled into playtime again and come back to find my daughter has now removed her diaper and is dancing happily naked in the living room! WHAT?! While I’m putting a new diaper on my daughter, my younger son has now decided it’s time to dump my other son’s water on the floor. Now why would you do that? I ask. He looks at me with those sweet innocent eyes and says, “I dunno.” I get a towel to soak it up. Meanwhile as I had walked around the corner to place the towel on the floor, my daughter, whom I left on the changing table in the fury of trying to prevent a water spillage, has now peed all over the changing pad/table. REALLY?!?!? (OH…don’t turn me into child services, please! Our changing table is in our laundry/central closet area connected to the living room.) And I think to myself…this day started out so well. What happened?

My oldest "talking" with his youngest sister. So sweet!

Okay, so first of all, know that I love my kids. I really do. But, let’s be honest…there are days they are just wildly out of control and literally climbing the walls. Those days drive me crazy!! I feel completely out-of-sorts and frankly, lost!

She loves this hat! She will find it even if I put it away for the summer!
She puts it on and immediately giggles.

During rainy days/weeks (like last week), my kids get a little more than wild. One day isn’t too bad, but multiple days in a row are just horrible for us. My kids get antsy, I get antsy…it isn’t pretty.

So, I decided that I needed to figure out a way to Enjoy my kids even when they drive me crazy!

Here are some quick and easy things I came up with:

1. Have tickle wars!! My kids are all ticklish on the back of their necks. I love to just grab them there and squeeze to watch them squirm and giggle. Then, they try to get me back and the war has begun!
2. Take a break and just curl up on the couch or lie on the floor with them and snuggle! You could read to them, sing their favorite songs with them or just sit with them.
3. Laugh at them when they do those cute things!! On tough days I find that I might have to look a little harder, but they’re there. They do some of the cutest and funniest things. I love watching them! For instance, my 3yo throws his hands up in the air and yells “WEEEEEEE!!!!!!” as we go around those curves getting on the highway. Every-time! But, it’s so stinkin’ cute and it makes me smile just thinking about it.
4. Go outside and just ignore your chores for a day. They can wait!
5. Get out the craft supplies and let them get creative! You might just want to monitor the glue and tape. Not that we’ve ever had anyone tape their mouth closed or glue their finger to their pants. That never happens!

What things have you done to release the tension in your house? Please share your tips and ideas or link back to a post! I would love to hear from you!!

Blessings,

Annette