Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Snow Day Brawl

I have HATED being at home for the last 3 weeks. I thought this was going to be the best 12 weeks ever and it turned into me counting the days until I could go back to work.  I like to think of myself as a pretty competent, take-charge, can do-anything type of girl...but then why have I been letting two toddlers run my life?  Seriously, they have been kicking my ass.  The house is a disaster, I'm constantly refereeing fights, my patience is shot, we're always running late, not eating supper until after 6:00 each night, and I've turned into the type of Mom I've always hated...the yeller. 
 
I know a lot of people yell at their kids and if it works for you, great.  But for me, I hate it.  In my opinion, if you have to yell at your kids to get them to do something, it means you've totally lost control of them.  And since you can't yell in public, it means that you've got no way to control your kids where it counts...in front of other people.  I've spent the last three years trying to break Cale of the "yelling habit" with Lucky and now I've found myself going down the same path out of sheer frustration.  Well, in the timeless words of Twisted Sister "We're not gonna take it anymore".... More specifically, I'm not gonna take it anymore.  I decided on Sunday that it was time to take back control of this house and that started with two important things: 
 
#1: No more "Mom in the middle"
#2: Getting organized again
 
By no more "Mom in the middle" I mean that I'm done being a ref for their never-ending fights about toys, shovels, buckets, and whatever other random injustices they think they see.  From now on, they are on their own to duke it out.  I think it's a fair fight...they're both similar height, weight, and build...and what Livvie lacks in all three she makes up for in sheer determination.  (The pictures today may make it look like Lucky is winning, but at the end of the brawl, I think Livvie actually came out on top).  I also took another Blogger Mom's idea and started "toy time-outs".  This means if they are fighting over a toy and can't work it out, the toy gets a time out for the day.  The toy goes on top of the fridge and no-one gets to play with it.  At the rate we're going, the fridge is going to collapse from the weight of the toys. 
 
I also got back to the core of what makes me kick-ass - I got organized.  I started weekly meal-planning again, started getting breakfast ready the night before in tupperware containers, lining a week's worth of outfits (pants, shirts, socks, and undies) on the bottom shelf of each kids closet (so they can grab their own complete outfit in the morning), and putting the kids in charge of cleaning up all their own toys.
 
It's only been a few days but I feel like me again.  And more importantly, the inmates are no longer running the asylum.