Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Bad School Mom IV: Relapse

It seemed like such a good idea to take the kids to Costco last night. We got them a Wii (which we had been promising for quite some time now - since the PS2 broke). Everyone was in such a great mood that we decided to go to Ingredient for dinner.
What a lovely evening. We sat outside. They have a dreamy fountain and shaded yard for the children to run around in. Creighton and I talked for a good hour and a half. We rolled up to our house around 9pm.

Realization hit:
1. Canon still had homework
2. Backpacks still needed cleaned out
3. Lunches still needed to be made
4. Clothes still needed to be picked out

Aww, no big deal I thought. I will help Canon with homework real quick, then we will just do everything else in the morning.

This morning, the bliss of the previous night wore off, as I struggled to wake the kids. Cosmo never did wake up by the time I left the house at 8:15!
Canon got up, got in the bath, and spent 15 minutes explaining why he was just not going to make it to school today. He fussed about eating daddy's bacon-eggs, about being forced to take his lunch, and about his footwear.
Whitby had a horrible attitude! She reminded me of the time I planted my foot in the middle of a fire-ant bed. She refused to get in the bath, refused to wash her hair, refused to get out of the bath, refused to comb her hair. She spent 15 minutes arguing with me about her poor clothing options, refused to put her clothes on, refused to wear socks, refused to wear sneakers, refused to eat breakfast, refused to get down from the table. She literally growled at me like a wild animal at one point. That girl really gave it to me this morning. How can something so cute be so scary?

Trying to salvage the morning, we surprisingly still had time for Namaste and family prayer. But Whitby refused to join in the exercises and refused to sit in the prayer circle. Unable to focus my heart in an attitude of prayer, I announced, "Daddy is going to say our prayer this morning!"

...Something about kindness, something about peace, something about God.... I literally have no memory of that prayer. I can only hope that in some way it was worth it just to make the effort.

Needless to say, I am thankful that each day is a new day and that my kids are so resilient and forgiving. Even more thankful that God gives me the grace and strength to try again tomorrow.

Lamentations 3:22-24, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion never fails. His mercies are new every morning; great is his faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him’.”

9 comments:

steve and randel hambrick said...

yeah, but it was all worth it for that hour and a half of heaven last night, right?? :)
i'm feeling like a bad mom myself- been barking at the girls all afternoon and ready to SCREAM. i'm leaving town in the morning for a few days and I keep telling myself what a loser i am for not being nice the day before i leave for 5 nights.. thank you Jesus for GRACE

Taylor Fuerst said...

You can do it Nikki! I'm learning from your trials (and having plenty of my own...trust me...). Can't wait to see what you do with the menu planning thing. Our challenge is having 1 planner who doesn't like to cook much, and 1 cook who doesn't like to plan. Chaos ensues!

Oh well. Grace for us, too! Thank you Lord...

Taylor Fuerst said...

oh, and one other thing--I found this: www.thisweekfordinner.com

Kathy C said...

Nikki..you are doing great. Three kiddos and a demanding job is tough. I would suggest night time baths..it is relaxing and it's just one more thing that you don't have to do in the morning. Plus I just loved when the dermatalogist said that we don't really need or should bath or shower every day. I don't follow that rule, but I didn't did stressed out if the kids missed a night. Do you think that had anything to do with my kids getting the nickname of "smelly??

Lauren W said...

Love your honesty and openness, my friend. I say it was worth it for you lovely dinner out last night. It sounds heavenly.

Andrea said...

I've had lots of comments over the years about how early my kids go to bed... and about how protective I am of their bedtime. Yet, if they don't get to bed on time, the next day is hell! And my oldest has always gotten up early no matter what time she went to bed, so it has been easier for ME to make sure they're in bed on time pretty much every night.

Unknown said...

Ok ladies:
Is it ok for me to not plan meals? It seems like more work for me. I feed my kids and husband finger foods, fruits and veggies and lean meat. They are fine with it. Are they missing out on something?
I guess the menu planning thing is helpful for people who actually cook real meals like caseroles and multiple items.
Last week I halfway planned:

Monday I made pasta.
On Tuesday I planned to have a rice based meal.
Wednesday was bible study so we ate veggies/fruit and lunch meat from the deli.
Thursday is daddy night so Creighton always takes the kids out.
Friday/Saturday/Sunday we grill meat and have a mammoth salad.

I just want to keep it simple.

That being said, I do want to expand my repertoire, adding other meats like baby shrimp or pork roast or something.
In the winter I do use the crock pot quite a bit.

Your thoughts?

Shannon Mills said...

Frrrrrriend!
Been thinking about you all day.
Acacia walked up to a group of friends and said, "hey guys!" Instant flashback. Weird how your kids pick up on stuff, huh?

Loved reading your mommy reformation posts. I just fell off the meal planning wagon. It was great, I'm sure I'll try again sometime. Only thing that has stuck is that Friday night is homemade pizza night and we grill and do big salads on the weekend.

I am reminded of a time 10 years ago when you invited me over to hang and have dinner. Your poured a bag of chips into a big, cool bowl and sprinkled cheese on top. Stuck it in the microwave and we had nachos. Hmmmm, I may try that this week. It was pretty good. Love you.

John David Walt said...

Kids taking baths in the morning before school = insanity!

Stop it