Pitty Party for ME!!

We, or should I say I, have had an extremely crazy week. Our schedules are getting busier but I keep telling myself that it will slow down. I think I am fooling myself. We did find time to go out on a date with each other to celebrate our 8th year wedding anniversary. That was really fun! I always enjoy having a nice warm dinner served to me! It got me geared up for a challenging weekend that was about to start..............
On Friday morning Taylor left town for a fishing trip in Colorado. Good timing considering I had 2 extra kids here all weekend. One of my friends went out of town so I had her 2 boys. One is 7 years old (Cooper's best friend) and one is 10 years old. It wasn't that bad though. The worst part was taking all of them to Target with me. I got a lot of stares from people, as if they were asking themselves, "Are those really all of her kids? Bless her heart!" Ha ha! You all know the look I am talking about! I wouldn't have taken all of them but I needed some things that I could not do without until Monday.
Then on Saturday we had baseball for Cooper. That would not have been bad either except the coach decided to play extra innings. Could he have chosen to play extra innings when I have more help with my kids? And when it is not a scorching 90 degrees outside?! Ok, I am overreacting I don't think it was 90 degrees....maybe 85 but the sun was really hot! We were all exhausted by the time we got home. Cooper played a great game though. He went 2 for 3 and 1 RBI. He is turning into quite the baseball player!




Saturday night Natalie had a birthday party to go to so I took advantage of having one less child and headed to Walmart for much needed groceries. Cody threw the biggest fit of his life. It lasted the whole 40 minutes that we were in the store. Kicking, screaming, hitting me, throwing stuff on the ground, I mean the worst fit you have ever seen in public. Again, everyone in the store was staring but this time the look was, "Oh my gosh, that woman CAN NOT handle her children." I remained calm, grabbed the things I HAD to have and got the heck out of there. They had 2 lanes open and about a million people in line. Keep in mind, Cody is still screaming. Oh well, nobody got out of my way and offered me to check out ahead of them. I guess they enjoyed the screaming! I walked out of Walmart in tears. I called my mother-in-law and got a pep-talk from her. She made me realize that this difficult stage I am in with my kids is only temporary and will pass over soon enough. I think the hardest part is my own expectations. I want my kids to have extra-curricular activities but it is hard to do when I am alone. I want to be a good parent, I want my kids to be happy, and I want to still be SANE once this stage is over. I know I can handle my kids day to day but can I do it and still have a smile on my face when I am done?
I was exhausted by the end of Saturday night. I was ready to throw in the towel and be done being a parent. Then I got a call from Taylor saying he was coming home that evening instead of staying until Sunday. He must have felt my frustrations. YAY! There is light at the end of the tunnel! Being a parent is so much easier when I have my best friend and companion to do it with. I appreciate his opinions and insights on child-rearing. They still shock me even 8 years later!!