The Meltdown…

Today I had a melt down!

I don’t have them very often these days but today proved to be too much for my patience to handle.

School was down right painful, even though the Little Professor only has two subjects left in Grade 2 – he actually finished one of them today, Yay!  The other, Animal Science, is a subject he just does not like, which is odd because he loves learning about animals.  I guess the way he’s learning it in the PACES has been very boring to him.  Part of me wanted to let him give it up, but I think it’s a good learning experience for him.  Not everything in life is super fun or interesting, but that’s not a reason to quit.  So, we are struggling through it!  I say “we” because it’s a struggle for me to have to say “get it done” a couple hundred times a day!  This has been going on for the past week and a half – it’s getting old!

Thankfully, there’s only one Animal Science PACE left!

Hopefully, by the weekend we’ll be finished Grade 2 altogether!

The Milk Monkey ‘s cutting two more top teeth making him tired and a little cranky.  I put him down for a nap twice today and twice he was woken up 5 minutes after he fell asleep.  He had his brother and sister to thank for that.  I just can’t seem to get the Professor and the Princess to keep the noise down during nap time.  Of course this made my already cranky Monkey even more ornery, a huge contrast to his normal cheerful disposition.  Later…I caught the Little Professor whipping balls at my grumpy little baby – they were very thin plastic, so not as damaging as it sounds.  I was horrified, he’s usually so gentle and kind.  It turns out he wasn’t trying to hurt his tiny, little brother but rather he was hoping if he did it enough it would teach the Monkey to do it back at him.  Then the two could have a good boyish game of whipping balls at each other!

To add to the stress…I spent all my free time yesterday cleaning the kitchen and getting it organized only to find it trashed this morning.  This really frustrates me because I don’t have a lot of time during my day between work, homeschooling and taking care of three kids.  Keeping the house tidy always ends up at the bottom of the list by default.  It’s very discouraging when I finally get to it and it doesn’t even last a full day!  I have a hard enough time teaching myself to keep things tidy, I find it almost impossible to help the kids learn the skill.  All my efforts seem to fall on deaf ears.

Even with all those things going on, I was still able to be my normal patient self.  Then I went upstairs to talk to the kids and saw their room.  It looked like a disaster zone!  There were toys everywhere, clean clothes ripped off their hangers and tossed every which way and dirty clothes scattered across the rug.  Then I spied the new items we bought at The American Girl doll store dumped out of their boxes and thrown about!! The tiny new doll glasses lost, no where to be found!  That was just too much!  It pushed me over the edge – I still feel guilty about spending so much money!! –  and to see it carelessly flung around proved to be my breaking point.

I completely lost my patience!  When I get upset with my children I don’t yell as much as my voice drops about 3 octaves.  They realize immediately that Mummy is about to have a melt down.  I’m not proud of myself, in fact I always feel so bad after, but I am a person like everyone else.  I have my flaws and I definitely have my limits.

It didn’t last long – you should see how fast my children can tidy up when they hear my deep voice!  Maybe I should always talk to them with a voice like an ogre!  We’d probably get more things accomplished.  I wonder if it would work on Daddy too??!!

Everything settled down again.  Daddy called Nana and asked if she’d be able to take our two older children for the day.  She of course agreed! She’s amazing like that!  Thank goodness for Nana J!  She’s so nonjudgmental and always there for support.  I couldn’t ask for a better mother in law!

Now as I write this, while munching on a piece of Hershey Special Dark chocolate, I’m ready to face tomorrow!  After all tomorrow is another day….

2 thoughts on “The Meltdown…

  • 2 May, 2012 at 7:49 am
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    Nana J sounds like a super hero.

    We all have those days…some more than others! I admire the patience you’ve taught yourself to have!

    Reply
  • 2 May, 2012 at 9:14 am
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    Sorry you had such a bad day, but thanks for the kudos =) I’m sure you realize you are not alone – there are millions of mothers (and fathers too) out there who have days like that, and I’m sure the ones who read this were nodding and laughing at the same time while reading it! Hopefully today will be a better day! 😉

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