Made it through the weekend

I love my kids, but two days alone with them and all the other things I have to do in a day freaks me out every week. In fact, even when Matt is home, by Monday morning, we are all ready to take a break from each other. It's not that I can't do the basics - I just worry about getting through the weekend without wanting to strangle either of the kids. Sorry, but this gig is no easy thing. And it's not getting easier. Thea is pulling up on things and then falling down all the time and hollering. And Liam is terrified of letting me out of his sight, even for a minute.

Yesterday, everyone was up by 6 a.m. for some ungodly reason. I had the goal of not doing anything productive Saturday - no cleaning, no groceries, no laundry. It was pouring most of the day, but by 9 a.m., when Thea refused to go down for a morning nap but was totally distraught, I packed everyone in the car and headed out for some garage sales with the dream of finding a small wood stove at one of them for the rental cabin. I didn't find that, but I did find out that Liam's fear of abandonment was in full swing - he couldn't handle having me out of his sight for even a second.

Then it was over to our friend Heather's house - she's a seasonally-single mom, too, and due to have her second child in a month, so we found comfort in numbers and cooked dinner together. Somehow, listening to your children whine is so much better with company. And they did. Lots.

Today was better. My main goal was to clean up and set things up for the week, and I managed that pretty well. The chaos was really bothering me, so taking it down a notch was great. Things like the shelf in my bedroom office that fell out last week, dumping its contents on the floor and I couldn't find time to fix it. Spending most of my "free" time on the rental cabin fir the past three weeks has really had a toll on my own house. But on Friday, we finished it. Propane stove not leaking, phone line mended, walls painted, touch-ups done, carpets moved, fridge in place, vacuumed, paint cans cleaned out, garbage hauled away. I did my best.

So after cleaning, I actually had time to do a puzzle with Liam, then Thea got up, so I tackled the upstairs and the boxes and boxes of baby clothes and gear I have to pass on. An hour later, Thea's ready for another nap. And how. She slept from 11 to 3. Wow.
Liam and I did some painting and when the girlie got up, we headed for the grocery store. I think I accomplished what I wanted to today - let Liam and Thea do their own schedule for one day - while still getting enough done to keep it from getting out of hand.