I remember watching parents with their children and (gasp) judging them. I’d often comment to Danny or just to myself that “I won’t let my kids do that” or “you wont catch me doing that with my kids”. Well recently I’ve had a few of those moments. I often feel the house closing in on me when I know that Danny is due home soon and I have so much that I haven’t completed yet. I ponder what I have done that day, and what I have to show for the day. What will I tell him that I have done. I have a stack of books that I’ve read with Aubrey, but that doesn’t take 8 hours. There are dirty dishes in the sink I guess that proves that we’ve eaten today… Anyway, let me get back on my topic here. I was folding laundry in a desperate attempt to accomplish something with my many hours that I spend at home. When I fold laundry I sit against the wall and build piles out from me but it fences me in. So Alyssa got a hold of a pink marker (this is one of those things that I wouldn’t let my kids do). Come on what parent lets their one year old play with a marker. I figured she wouldn’t get the lid off WRONG. She did. So I jumped up over the top of the laundry knocking several piles down and took it away. She screamed, cried, I think you get the picture. I placed the lid back on and gave it back to her, what are the chances she’ll take it off twice. Back to the laundry I go I figure she’ll lose interest as little children often do, but she didn’t of course. She took the lid off, so up I go take it away, and we start over. This goes on a few times and that panic feeling sets in and I start to think that I’m never going to get this laundry done. So I just said “oh well, what’s the worst that can happen with a marker” I let her just have it. She sucked on it a few times, and colored on her white onsie. I justify it with the thought of we are done having kids and she has almost outgrown it anyway. I guess my awakening happened when my older kids came in to start collecting piles of laundry to put away. Emma shrieks “Mom aren’t you watching her” I thought “she is going to say things like her Mom just like I say things like my Mom”… sorry Emma. Tanner comes in and being a boy, solves the problem kind of. He yanks it out of her hand, at this point I’ve lost all interest in laundry I’m past my point of panic and I’m enjoying the things going on around me. Alyssa of course screams at Tanner and he gives it back. It looks like Alyssa is going to win this one. Well the laundry did get folded and is put away until tomorrow when it starts over again. The older kids think I have lost my mind but overall the damage of the marker wasn’t so bad, and I think I’ve learned a small lesson. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to go all crazy and let Alyssa do everything she wants, but maybe I need to relax just a tad. As for Danny, he’ll be home in 5 minutes, and the dishes aren’t done, but being the perfect husband he wont say a thing, I’ll be the only one asking what I did today, and wonder if I couldn’t have fit those dishes in…
My friend Rhonda showed me some stomach excercises on friday. Yikes, I’m in so much pain. I guess that means I need to keep at them. I worked on arms today and did the 45 minutes on the elliptical. I’m not dropping weight as fast as I would like, but I’m not giving up. I’m just trying not to think about it so much. I’m blaming it on the fact that I’m gaining muscle while losing fat so it’s just taking it’s place. Don’t burst my bubble…