A Day in the Life

This past weekend my mom and I attended the Joyce Meyer Love Life Women's Conference in St. Louis. It was great. I'll post more about it in some other posts this week. Instead I need to type out my evening...

It all started with me buying Cade The Battlefield of the Mind for Kids. If you haven't ever read Joyce Meyer's Battlefield of the Mind in the adult version it is great. Especially for someone like me who has problems with anxiety. Satan knows my mind is my weakest spot. I have seen Cade unfortunately develop a lot of my traits when it comes to how his mind works. I saw the book on the resource table at the conference and thought it would be something great we could read together. The first chapter must have really made an impression on Cade because within minutes he was saying how awful Monday's are. I told him he needed to repeat that today was going to be a good day. As he left for school this morning I reminded him today was going to be a good day.

My day was fine. Jay had a meeting tonight so he brought Cade to me. The explosion started the minute they walked in. Cade had some homework that he had for a few days and it is due tomorrow. Jay was mad, Cade was upset. I felt bombarded. I walked outside with Jay to get the full scoop on what all happened today. When I walked back in Cade was in my office very upset and said "you said today was going to be a good day." Whoops-I guess he didn't quite understand that I wasn't guaranteeing him a good day - he just needed to tell himself it was going to be good.

I was dreading going home as much as he was. It is hard teaching your kid responsibility and not hovering all the time. Since I was trying to make him responsible I'm having to help him catch up some stuff that should've been done earlier. So after working all day and feeding everyone I'm also revisiting cell labeling, interviewing a grandparent, spelling words, reading and the dreaded math homework. Yes, if both kids weren't already in the car with me I would've drove on past the house.

On the way home I tried talking to Cade about some of his positives. There was nothing good about his day. I pointed out that he woke up breathing, he could walk and he was healthy. There were a lot of people who would love to have his kind of "bad day." He said "no they wouldn't because if they were sick they wouldn't want to do all the work I had to do." I said "well but if they were healthy they wouldn't mind doing the work."  He said " no one would want to do all the work I have to do."  I decided to give it a rest for a minute.

Around all the time the above conversation was going on Camryn was screaming for my water bottle.  I gave it to her because I can only stand one of them being upset at a time.  All of a sudden I heard the sound of a full bottle of water being poured on her lap and her carseat.  I almost ran off the side of the road. 

After recovering from almost hitting a mailbox I tried another approach.  'So there had to have been something good about your day.  How was lunch?" 
"Lunch was horrible"
"Ok, so someone must have said something funny and made you laugh or they laughed at something funny you said."
"No, the people who laugh are better at me...(and then other incoherent mumbling)

The conversation and short ride home was quickly spiraling out of control.  Thank goodness our driveway was in sight.  I sent Cade to his room to collect himself and I walked to the mailbox to collect myself. On the way back Camryn's diaper fell off.  At least something worked right on the car ride home.  Her diaper absorbed a good portion of the water she spilled.  I threw it in our dumpster.

We all seemed to get ourselves collected and after a scrumptious meal of hot pockets settled down to our work. Cade was labeling cell parts and Camryn was coloring.  I got out a coloring book and Camryn and I worked on that while helping Cade.  I was proud of myself.  I was staying calm and I was rocking this mother thing.  It was a good night.

Then I realized  that Camryn was wearing a long dress and I couldn't remember putting  a diaper on her.  I lifted up her dress and sure enough her little bare bottom was sitting on my kitchen chair.   I never replaced the diaper that I had thrown in the dumpster over an hour ago.  She had been all over our house.

God definitely has funny ways of keeping us humble!!  I'm off to check the house.  If Cade steps in a pile of something gross tonight he's really going to think I lied to him about having a good day.