what am I being taught?

so i haven't been on here forever, but maybe what i need to keep my sanity is some vent sessions through cathartic writing. 

anytime one of the kids is sick, chaos ensues.  first caleb was sick, and though he gets sick a lot more often than brynna, dealing with his sicknesses is much easier because he's so good with taking his medicines.  after just marveling at how caleb is sick so often and brynna had yet to be sick since starting preschool, she caught his bug.  i'm not sure if it's because she hasn't had a flu shot, but her sickness is a lot worse than caleb's was.  what doesn't help the situation is that she HATES taking meds and it's a struggle to get her to take anything.  she's been home all week....fever, cough, galas, and today, BARF.  she ate her soup and rice like a champ, then proceeded to spew barf on the couch and then again on the bathroom floor.  cleaned up, bocha'd her, put the gross stuff in the wash...gave them m&ms for dessert.  approximately five m&ms in, BARF again.  all over the carpet (chocolate and chicken noodle soup makes for some disgusting barf!)...take her to the bathroom and she hurls a good one, but luckily she was in the tub.  clean up again and at this point i tell dave to brush their teeth and put them in bed cuz i'm done. 

when i was younger (and much, much stupider), i used to say that if i didn't find a husband, that would be fine and i'd just get pregnant somehow and be a mommy cuz that's the one thing i wanted most.  oh boy was i stupid.  as i'm taking on more of the responsibilities just because dave is physically unable to, i just can't imagine a life of doing every freakin' thing all by myself with no one to rely on.  i'm lucky because i have my mom here with me to help me with stuff, but having a husband is a really great asset also.  i should clarify - having a helpful husband is a great asset.

so i guess what i'm learning is this...as much as dave pisses me off sometimes, and as much as i hate having to tell him what to do, i soooooo appreciate having a husband who is helpful.  and although this won't stop me from getting mad when he's sitting with his leg up and i'm making breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, washing dishes, cleaning, bochaing the kids, doing the grocery shopping, and everything else...i do have to be thankful. 

the most irritating noise

sooo...been forever and a day since i've been on here.  sucks cuz i really need to keep these posts cuz they're the only way i'll ever remember anything with my ridiculously bad memory. 

anyways, today i've come to the realization that incessant crying is less irritating than incessant whining.  if i hear another, "but mommy, i dont want to" or "but mommy, i want to" today, i'm going to frickin go ballistic.  i realized, after attending church, having lunch, going to a long-ass soccer game, getting a snack at mcds, then going to the grocery store, that i've had about all the whining i can possibly handle for one day.  as we sat in mcdonalds after the soccer game, with one child on each side of me, the pitch and volume of their voices was just too much.  even a great big diet coke and some french fries couldn't alleviate the pounding in my head.  right now i can hear the two of them futting around in the bedroom, since bedtime means make noise, fool around and sing and talk as much as i can before mommy and daddy get REALLY mad. 

maybe it's just me and not being able to sleep past 7 a.m. on both my weekend mornings that has me in such a mood, but i'm about ready to brush my teeth and go to sleep already.  tomorrow begins another week of 530 wake-ups, hurried morning business, long school days, then homework/dinner/bath/bedtime routines. 

did i mention that mommyhood is the greatest accomplishment of my life?????  lol.  just one of dem days. 

kiss butt

when caleb is getting scoldings, brynna will majorly kiss butt.  she'll tell us what she's doing right and how she's not being naughty.  tonight dave told her, "brynna, you know how to kiss butt, yea?!" and she says, "i know how to kiss butt."  lol. 

massive fit

caleb has been on an "i want mommy to do it" trip...it really is the most irritating thing EVER.  "i want mommy to wake me up," "i want mommy to put on my clothes," "i want mommy to sit by me when i eat breakfast/dinner"....and on and on and on.  we talked to him about it and he was better for a day, but this evening was ridiculous.  he refused to eat his dinner, didn't listen when i told him over and over to sit down, so i picked him up to take him to bocha and he started throwing a fit...swinging at me and even hitting me while i was carrying him.  we went in the bathroom and he got some pinches and eventually calmed down and said he wanted me to feed him.  i did, only because i wanted him to eat and be done with it.  then the three of us had some ice cream but he didn't get any because of his behavior, which caused another massive fit.  finally i took him in the bathroom, forced him to take a bath, all the while having him screaming, crying, trying to get away from me, hitting, flicking, etc.  needless to say he is in the bedroom and has been since his bath and brushing teeth.  after he calmed down i wrote down rules, consequences and rewards and then we listed all of the ways he had misbehaved. 

i'm sure tonight my bedtime reading will be articles on more effective dealings with these frickin fits cuz all i really wanna do is body slam him when he acts this way.  

new morning routine

having the two kids in school is a whole new ball game.  i thought that it would be easier with caleb since he's been doing it for a year, but apparently, the novelty of getting up and getting ready for school has worn off.  brynna has been much better so far, but she also has her moments.  on days when i have to make breakfast and lunches for all four of us, i'm going to need to be up by 5:30...5:15 would probably save my sanity a little bit more.  thankfully i can usually make some of the lunches the night before (at least me and dave's), so that helps.  not being able to give caleb anything with peanuts is a little tricky, but luckily brynna's school is not peanut free yet. 

date day

today for the first time we're going to go on little mini-dates with the little ones...dave is taking caleb to watch despicable me 2 and i'm taking brynna to watch a my little pony movie.  she saw the poster for it by pearlridge theater when i took her with aunty leish to watch another movie and she really wanted to see it.  it's already on dvd, but i'm sure she'll be thrilled to see it in the theater with popcorn! 

we're a little bit worried cuz two times we took caleb to watch a movie he got sick..i'm sure it's just a coincidence but we'll make sure he's warm.  he already said his throat was sore this morning so we'll see.

we've been trying to pack in a lot of fun for the kids in our little summer vacation.  went to the beach, discovery center, movies today and itrampoline tomorrow.  still gotta take them to bishop museum to see the dinosaurs...how can we not have taken them there yet??? 

tattletaler and manipulator

i remember a book we used to read at my aunty's house about not being a tattler.  (sheesh, is it tattler, tattletaler, tattle-taler?) anyways, i need that book for caleb.  he's always telling us about what brynna did, though oftentimes he's a part of the problem too.  grrr.  i guess it's the age but we definitely need to find a book about it, since little guy learns so much from his books. 

brynna, on the other hand, doesn't tattle too much since she is often the instigator.  she's also soooooo funny in her manipulative ways.  the other day my mom was scolding her about something and she looks at my mom and says, "i love you."  wth????  little tricky girl.  then when she wants something and you tell her no she comes back with, "oh, but i really want it, please, oh please?!"  we asked her who taught her that and she said she taught herself.  gosh!!!!