Friday Night

By the end of the week I am tired. T.I.R.E.D. Tonight Ernie came home to “Yelling Wife” instead of “Calm Wife” or “Super Wife” (she’s the one who can clean the house top to bottom, bake cookies, and put a fabulous meal on the table for dinner- all in the same day. She shows up about twice a year.). The kids are worn out from the week and Emmaline and Nigel have resorted to fighting about the way they are “looking” at each other. As in, “MOM- Nigel is looking at me!!!” It doesn’t make sense to me and it doesn’t seem to be anything close to being a valid reason for arguing, but that doesn’t dissuade them in the least.

It’s been a long week. Max has been a typical toddler. Try and guess the thing that he didn’t do this week:

• Empty the entire shaker of cinnamon sugar (which I had filled to the brim the day before) all over the counter, the barstool, and subsequently, the floor- while I was on the phone with the bank.
• Climb on top of the counter, find the open container of margarine and proceed to scoop out handfuls of soft margarine and throw them on the floor.
• Take the cat food scoop which he used instead to scoop litter out of the litter box, and then he took the litter and dumped it into the dog’s food dish- which was full of food.
• Escape out of the master bedroom at dusk, shutting the door behind himself and then walking all the way to the top of our cul-d-sac so my neighbor could find him playing in the other neighbor’s garage (!!!!). Our neighbor brought him home to us, all the while making us look like horrible parents for having so many kids that we don’t know where they all are at any given time.

Well, he actually didn’t escape at dusk so my neighbor could find him and bring him home this week. That happened last week.

Parenting is getting harder. Little Ernie is having friend issues at school and it’s hard to know what the right thing is to say to him. I think it’s a little too early to use the “toxic friend” label, but that’s pretty much what he’s going through right now.

I took Nigel to the doctor yesterday. I know you will never believe this, but he has… wait for it… strep throat. So Nigel was home yesterday and today. And I’m ready for him to go back to school on Monday- which makes me feel like a terrible mom. It’s truly not a reflection on Nigel or his behavior- he’s a great kid to have around. I just feel crowded sometimes.

Ernie asked, as he was eyeing me warily, what he could do to help me. I said, nothing. But later I told him I think I need to be alone for a couple of hours tomorrow. I can’t remember the last time I was alone, but I feel confident a little quiet time would do our whole family a world of good.