7 lllooooooonnnnnnnggggggggg days to go.
Well, the days themselves are short enough, it’s the individual minutes that seem to go on endlessly. Probably because of the repetition.
“Put that down please”
“Take your hand off that please”
“Stop doing that please.
“Put it down.”
“Take your hand off it.”
“Stop it. Now.”
“Put it down!!”
“Hand! Off! That!”
“STOP!”
“I SAID PUT IT DOWN ALREDY !!! CAN NO ONE IN THIS HOUSE BUT ME UNDERSTAND ENGLIGH!!! WHAT DO I HAVE DO? WHAT DO I HAVE TO SAY? PUT THE DAMN THING DOWN AND KNOCK IT OFF!!”
(Yes, I said the damn thing. I say damn rather a lot when I reach end point. I do try to control it ever since Havoc told Mayhem to sit down & eat his damn dinner. But it slips in. The good news is I don’t generally reach end point, usually the issue resolves itself somewhere between the second & third repetition because I have sent them on time out.)
All day long, starting as early as 6am with the initial howl of fury that one sibling has touched the other’s bowl of cereal, continuing though wails of frustration that one is not playing the way the other wants him to, one has pushed, shoved or hit (usually accidentally) the other, plus the inevitable retribution, cats not wanting to be petted, toys not shared, food taken when the other’s back is turned, one humming or singing to annoy the other ending finally with wails over who is sleeping where in the bunk bed.
“it” can be anything – legos, games, balls, army men, cars, their penis, a kitten, yogurt, a box of goldfish crackers, the Wii remote, their brother’s arm, a floor mat, toothpaste and/or any one of hundreds of things they pick up off of shelves in every store we enter.
My entire conversation these days is limited to telling people to knock it off and then telling them they are on time out for not knocking it off.
I’m ready to abdicate several hours a day to someone else. Summer vacation has gone on long enough. I was done sometime the week before last. It’s been fun, don’t get me wrong. We’ve done some great things & I have loved having the kids around & being able to talk with them & play with them & do things together. I’ve enjoyed hanging out & doing things at our pace rather than needing to be places as school dictates.
But like many long family vacations, after awhile you need some space. You need to go back to the routine to feel comfortable. Some vacations just go on a little too long. People get bored. The newness and fun wear off & then people start feeling out of sorts and quarrelsome. We’re there now. Maybe it’s all the rain & the kids not being able to get outside as much as last summer or even this spring.
I hit the wall at 8 weeks. I’ve been counting down the days since then. 7 more. I know I’ll miss it once school starts, but I need a break.
Right now I am watching the boys play together in a mud puddle in the yard. They have some of the dinosaurs and the alligators in the puddle and some sort of Jurassic beach scene is going on. I will miss times like these. 5 minutes ago they were fighting over who got to hold the hose to make the puddle and who got to be the big crocodile. I will not miss that.
5 comments:
I remember days like that - it does get better as they get older. I remember thinking I should just record myself and have me on auto-loop.
See, the older one and I are fine. It's the two small ones that would surgically attach themselves BACK on my person that drive me insane after awhile.
oh my goodness! ME TOO...and it seems that nobody can hear my polite demands until I am screaming them and cuss words are strewed in for affect.
I man seven days isn't long. Do you have a back to school margarita party with the other parents planned ?
You can do it - 7 days isn't long!
I have almost a MONTH left.
I'm not sure I have it in me to survive. Like you, I was ready a couple of weeks ago. This crappy weather and two daughters that either love each other or hate each other is making for one extremely cranky mother.
I only WISH "damn" was the worst that came flying out of my mouth.
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