I know I should say world peace, but honestly I don’t. My 1st impulsive thought is always “win the lottery” after all isn’t that everyone’s ultimate ticket to warm beaches and life-long security? However, something strange has been happening of late when faced with that question – my wish has started to change. Its a wish I think maybe I would be better keeping to myself, but in the interests of full-disclosure I am starting to embrace my new guilty secret wish.
I wish for a ‘normal’ day. Yes, just a normal day! What would that feel like I wonder. I have had them before certainly, they seemed boring then. Now I find myself yearning for those days where it didn’t matter where or what time I needed to be somewhere, nor where or who the somewhere was. I could be ready in 5 minutes, I had my own car, my freedom, my leisure time. Now I find myself with 2 extra appendages, both of whom have very different opinions and extremely loud voices. Their stalling tactics and lack of desire astound me. I cannot prize them into the car with or without promises, bribes, cajoling and often yelling or at least a raised intense voice and extreme mannerisms. I am caught in a trap trying to be louder, smarter, and quite honestly sneakier than my kids.
My son has an attitude to fell the most eager career politician, he could argue the hair off a donkey I am sure. I find myself feeling less enraged and more apathetic of late, which I am sure he can sense. When he feels my resolve slipping he moves in for the kill, his pants are whipped off and he runs gleefully back to the couch in just his boxer shorts and a triumphant smile. My daughter usually at this point insists in her highest loudest scream that we just have to go! “C’mon MOM” she yells, while my son dances around with his Wii controller laughing and calling her names. To which she dissolves into buckets of tears and stamping feet. I usually at this point finishing packing my bag, tell them both I don’t care I am leaving, and head for the door, to which my son yanks his pants on backwards and invariably pulls on one of his sister’s t-shirts in an effort to try and beat her in the race to get into the car first. Which is how we ended up at Sports Clips the other day with my son wearing his jeans BACKWARDS. In his defense, even when we pointed it out he was clueless!
Although they refuse to go out, we have exhausted all indoor activities it seems. Including multiple sessions of LEGO, Barbie, back-yard playtime, a little time out to clean and dress the tiny scratches on my daughter’s face after she got too close to the puppy and his bone (despite at least 10,000 warnings about that). I have spent my day breaking up fights, begging and begging the boy to put his pants on so we can go and do something, anything more fun than this. Instead I find myself submitting to requests for more and more stuff I have no desire to do.
At this point I am sure most parents would smile, tsk tsk a little and then proclaim how, despite all the angst and arguing, their kids are just the best thing they ever did. I am not sure I am able to utter that without flailing and screaming “it’s a lie, it’s a lie!!!” So here we are, Saturday afternoon, spring break looming ahead of us into a chasm of yet to be screamed insults and raging temper tantrums.
Eventually I decided it wasn’t them, but I, who needed the timeout! Yes I admit it, 7 days to go before school reopens and I am already feeling more than a little defeated. In all seriousness, at night after they are in bed, oblivious to the events of the day I wonder, will it ever be normal again? It’s hard having a kid who is ‘on’ 24/7, it’s not easy keeping up with his mood swings, his tantrums, his highs or worse his lows. Quite frankly it’s exhausting, for all of us not just me. So yes, I wish, I wish, and I wish. Just one ‘normal’ day, please! Just one!