Monday blues

You know that song, Manic Monday... "Just another manic Monday. Wish it were Sunday..." That is really how I feel today, except I do not even wish it were Sunday, because Sunday was a nightmare!

The boys are testing just about every limit possible, but seem very focused on testing their ability to NOT listen to anything we say. "Do not jump off the furniture." "Please come here." "Time to pick up toys." etc...

So here we are on Monday. The start to our week. Stuck inside, because the only thing that seemed to capture their attention to actually listen to me, was taking away their right to play outside. Did I mention it is 91 degrees?? Did I mention that taking away their playing outside is really a huge punishment to myself too??

So I need to find someway to recharge myself. I feel burnt out from all the punishments, the not listening, hearing Liam yell at me "I don't love you, Mama!", etc... We feel a bit loss as to what to do. No punishments seem to phase them. No TV- they really do not care. No yummy treats- they move on pretty quick. It's the playing outside that stops them, makes them think.

So, now I find myself a bit burnt even from writing this, so I will abruptly end here. :-)

Time

It is really hard to explain time to preschoolers. The boys are now 4 and 2. (Liam will turn 3 in 23 days!) Our days revolve heavily around time. I function, as well as the boys, on a schedule. We are fairly predictable in terms of when things happen, the order in which they happen, etc...

What is hard to me is when they are WAITING for something to happen. For example, Maddox wanted quiet time to be over. Mama does not want quiet time to be over. Maddox will come out and ask if quiet time will be over in 4 minutes and he has only been in there for 2 minutes... I say, he has an hour to go. He of course, has no idea what I am talking about.

I have a clock technique that I plan to implement this coming week. A digital clock, where he can come out when the clock reads a certain sequence of numbers. For example, quiet time will be over when the clock reads 1:15. He gets this concept already because if he wakes up early, he knows he can climb in our bed and SHOULD be quiet until the clock says 6:05. He definitely knows when the clock says 6:05, is he quiet up until that time, not so much, but that is another post...

Right now, Liam is excited for his birthday. He picked his theme the other night. Bubble Guppies. He is excited, we all are. The next morning, he woke up, apparently expecting his party and presents. Talk about big tears, at 6:30 in the morning. #goodtimes

We do count downs to big events. Currently we have a countdown for when Uncle Glenn gets here!! Woo hoo- 19 more days! Once he arrives, we will begin Liam's birthday countdown. He seems to understand now that his birthday will not happen until Uncle Glenn arrives.

So... anyways, my life seems to heavily be focused on time. How long until this? How long until that? After this day, Mama?

You get the picture...