Totally being melodramatic right now and blasting ‘I Fall Apart’ by Posty because, my friends… that is exactly what happened today. I will make it crystal clear that I broke my one and only cardinal rule of what-not-to-dos and allowed them screen time first thing in the morning because I simply just didn’t want to. I wanted a minute to focus on ME because believe it or not, I do have things to accomplish- but apparently that luxury was taken away from me the minute I became a parent. #noregrets
We accomplished F-all today and my head spun about 500 times. There were points when I resembled Medusa and I’m truly not sure how I survived this day. Did you know my 4 year olds have like 25 billion friends and today was the day they wanted to FaceTime them all? And honestly, there is just zero reasoning with Ryan. He doesn’t care that I don’t have anyone’s number and it has suddenly become my job to hunt them all down before the ultimate meltdown. So, here I am… trying to get some digits of the entire kindergarten class on a tight deadline. And schoolwork? 100% did not happen. It’s currently 7:23pm and I have them all journalling about their day so I feel better about my mothering skills. Well, only 4 of them are journalling, as Briar had a moment this evening which rendered her an extra early bedtime. And who am I kidding? Ryan is definitely scribbling his entry. Words aren’t his thing quite yet. I’ve also changed my name in the last hour and haven’t told them. I can’t even tell you the amount of times the word, “Mummy” came out of their mouths. Greyson and Ryan are BOTH tapping my shoulders right now, saying “Mummy/Mummy-ah.” I wonder when they’ll clue in that “Mummy” is simply not my name anymore. I’ve changed it to Barb. Figure that one out, kiddos. (edit: Greyson is so frustrated that he is calling me, ‘Alanna’- smart cookie knows how to play my game.)
One thing we did accomplish? (I like how I say we, as if I accomplished this) Jai did her training today and ran her solo via video chat with her teacher. I know it seems a bit wild to be putting training before school work but I do have to say that when Jai is training hard and on her game, everything else just follows suit. This kid dances 24 hours a week so to suddenly halt is absolutely life-altering. Routine is a strong word in our house and something we all benefit greatly from. And today was a perfect example of what happens when we fall out of routine. Frustrated mama and overtired kiddos who are going to bed earlier than usual. And how many of you all wish you could go to bed right now?!?
I let the boys have way too much screen time and it was mostly due to the fact that they figured out they can text and chat with their little buddy from school. And I found it kind of cool to watch in a sense. They’re so used to watching Jaidyn FaceTime with her friends and chat with them via text so when it’s finally their turn, it’s like Christmas morning. It lasted all day and Kristian literally just tore himself away from the iPad because he recognized that it was bedtime. God Bless that little boy…. but hey, I did take a lot of joy out of their happiness today so that’s absolutely a positive.
Oh wait, I also did one more thing… maybe even 2. I did get them outside for an hour and get this- I ran up and down the sidewalk. Did you read that? I RAN and…..I don’t run. But it’s a great example of how DESPERATE I am to get outside and feel normal. I just won’t mention it was literally the length of my driveway and I was just wanting to win the race against Ryan. (I won.) But hey- it was something, or that’s what I’m telling myself anyway. They did their thing; Greyson tossed the football around, Jaidyn flipped all over and Kristian ran some cops and robbers game with whoever would listen. I still got some strange looks from walkers as they passed by, likely assuming that I was hosting some epic play date. No peeps, they are alllllll mine.
I have to be proud of the fact that I made a decent little dinner because I sort-of felt the Mama guilt after throwing them PB sandwiches for lunch with a side of Goldfish crackers. They can’t have it at school so guess what? We are making up for lost time. You are welcome, kiddos. And we can’t forget our favourite human dropping off some staples, AKA cheese, tea and bubly water. It’s not easy keeping a 6 ft distance from the one person you need a hug from more than anyone. Cue frustration that just piled on to even more frustration. I was Les Miserables.
So I guess that’s that. I haven’t cleaned the baseboards and I haven’t slapped another coat of paint on a wall that I intended on doing. I also didn’t do the yoga I had set out to do and I didn’t print off any of the worksheets I was supposed to. And honestly speaking, I simply cannot wait to jump into bed and watch some Netflix to rot my brain… I attempted to set the NES up to my TV to play but I can’t find a cord and I’m right angry about it. Mario will have to wait.
But we get to do this ALL again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day. I have many opportunities to screw this up but I also get a shot to redeem myself the next time. So, I’ll take the crap-tacular day and try again tomorrow. We’re all alive and majority of us are smiling. Just not Ryan… because he didn’t get to FaceTime all his friends.
Cincodemumyo 