I think Chuck and I had it pretty good for awhile. However, that while is gone. Life has been pretty hard the past couple weeks. Sure, it could be that I'm exhausted from working full-time, Chuck is exhausted from full-time stay-at-home-fatherhood, and the the boys are exhausted from each day's activities (and waking up in the 5 o'clock hour--UGH). Sure, it could be that even with the pool, summer is still pretty miserable. All I know is that it's been non-stop fighting in our house, and sadly, it's coming from everyone.
I think one big culprit is that the boys, with a nearly 3.5-year age difference, have recently diverged in nearly everything. What Rhett wants to watch, Ollie doesn't. What Ollie wants to play, Rhett doesn't. What Rhett wants to read, Ollie doesn't. What Ollie wants to eat, Rhett doesn't. So everything ends up in arguments and/or fighting. (Except they both agree on the fact that they don't want to eat my sweet and sour chicken. That's been firmly established.)
Maybe they've just been around each other too much. In ten days, Rhett will be back at school so they'll be separated for a good chunk of the day. And then a couple weeks later, Ollie starts his half-day preschool, which means I'm separated from all of them for another couple of hours. I think it will do us all good to get back to routines and schedules and absences, because our hearts really do need to grow fonder.
P.S. Because I'm utterly failing at this hard parenting thing, I'd like to try something hard that I could maybe actually accomplish. But what?
P.P.S. In happier news, I found a new podcast: Mystery Show. Check it out. You won't regret it. Well, maybe you will, in which case sorry about that.
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Yes, summer is just a bit too long, I think. 2 months would be perfect. That last 3-4 weeks is/was pretty unbearable around these parts as well! Everyone, everyone, just needed some space and time apart from everyone else. Thank heavens for school starting this week.
ReplyDeleteParenting is hard - so hard! I'm failing at it, too! I don't even like one of my children at this point . . . so not a good thing! Let's hope school will cure me of that.
Maybe try a tri? Haha.
Oh the fighting!!! I swear my children have absolutely no idea how to be kind to each other these days. 4 kids all day every day is wearing me out! I am looking forward to school starting too. First grade and preschool! I'll only have the 2 littles at home in the mornings!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm with ya (and the other comments about the last 2 weeks of summer... routines must be had!)! We're all a little testy around here too. (Isn't that an awful word? Testy?) I keep telling my kids I don't want to see, hear, or smell (Claire) them for at least a full 10 minutes every hour or so. As for accomplishing something hard... sounds like you've done plenty: your calling, diet challenges, summer in MD... sounds like you're successful to me! But another suggestion? Take up a new hobby? Jujitsu? Write a short children's math book/novel type thing? Learn Japanese so you can visit me and become our translator? Learn German to prep for your trip to visit your parents? ~Natalie
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