When a good day turns ugly

Today started off as a good day, but went downhill seriously fast this afternoon. This morning the girls and I got out of the house for a play date at a friend’s house and stayed for a lunch of Macaroni and Cheese (Devin’s favourite). Shortly after lunch, we headed home for a naptime that just wasn’t meant to be.

Now Devin doesn’t nap much anymore, which is usually fine. But I felt that she really needed a nap today since she was up way too late last night and way too early this morning. She was getting whiny and cranky and definitely needed some downtime. So with the tantalizing thought of having some time to myself when both kids were bed for an afternoon nap, I tiptoed off to my bedroom to check my email in peace and quite. I guess that’s when my good day went disastrously wrong.

Devin has what I like to refer to as a iron will. Once she gets something in her head, almost nothing can sway her from her chosen course of action. This afternoon she made it her mission to ruin naptime.

After I spent an hour chasing Devin back into her bed and soothing her screaming baby sister who was not happy about the constant ruckas during naptime (or perhaps was more upset about being trapped in her crib and unable to contribute to the rukas) I decided that it was better to send Devin downstairs and salvage what was left of naptime for Jordan.

Now after playing battle of wills for an hour and winning, Devin wasn’t going to let me off the hook so easily and refused to play quietly. Instead she yelled and screamed and banged around the house while I tried to recharged with a little bit of alone time before facing the three-year-old terror once again.

Before too long the whirlwind of noise made her way upstairs and woke up Jordan before she really got much of a nap. By then I knew the whole idea of my naptime paradise was a futile dream and hauled the kids downstairs for snacks in the hope that the day would take a positive turn. It didn’t.

I had developed a pounding headache that was deeply aggravated by each word my loquacious daughter said, and it was obviously that her chatter wasn’t going to come to an end anytime soon. So I did what anyone else would do in such a dire situation. I called my mom and headed over there for moral support.

My mom could probably see the headache on my face, or the look of sanity slowly leaving my eyes, when I arrived and made sure that I got some time alone. She took the kids for a walk and I jogged out my frustration on her treadmill. By the time they got back, I was better prepared to face the evening.

I managed to make a delicious dinner of blueberry pancakes and got the girls up to bed promptly at 7 p.m. Then I called Ken for a pep talk (wish he wasn't away right now). Here’s hoping that tomorrow afternoon goes a little bit better!