A good day
Today has been one of the best days I've had in a really long time.
The kids woke me up at the crack of dawn... like they usually do. We ate
zucchini muffins for breakfast because Daddy drank all of the milk the
night before. We spent the morning cleaning up the house, and the kids
were really helpful. They gathered up all the toys around the house,
they put any trash they found in the trash can, they put any dishes they
found in the sink, and then DJ helped me wash the dishes. He's actually
starting to get pretty good at that. Then around nine, we all went
grocery shopping. We got everything on the list, and nothing else, and
everything on the list was healthy! I was rather proud of myself. Plus
we ended up spending quite a bit less than we had projected, which is
always nice.
When we got home Andrew went down for a nap, and DJ decided that it was time for him to take a nap too... but what he actually wanted to do was watch a movie. Andrew's nap time is more often than not his movie time, but he still calls it nap time. That kept him quiet and happy for an hour or so, while I washed laundry and did everything else that I had planned on doing today. Much much earlier than I usually get everything done. When DJ was done watching his movie we played a game until Andrew woke up. Daddy went to work around then too. DJ, Andrew and I had Quesadillas for lunch, and they both ate all of theirs without any complaints.
After lunch we all went and played in the backyard. We have a huge backyard shared with all of the other townhouses in our group, but hardly anyone ever plays back there other than us, so it's pretty much our backyard. We threw Frisbees back and forth to each other. DJ is actually getting pretty good at it. His throws go pretty far, and more often than not lately, his aim hasn't been too far off. We played out there for a long time and when we came back in, then it really was nap time for both of them. I put DJ down first because I wanted to spend a little time with Andrew one on one, so we played for about half an hour, before I put him down. Andrew always takes shorter afternoon naps than DJ anyways so they got up around the same time today.
While they were napping I had my free time. I usually do all of the chores for the day during that time, but since we had gotten them all done in the morning I actually had some time to myself, and for once I didn't waste it away on the internet or playing some silly game. I pulled out the book that I started working on years ago and I read over that and added a few notes and ideas. It was something that I've been wanting to get back to for a really long time, but I've never really had much time. The kids woke up shortly before dinner time, so we played with blocks for a while, and then they helped me make macaroni and cheese and broccoli. Once again, they ate their meals with no complaint, and no throwing of food, which is a bit miraculous.
After dinner we cleaned up really quickly, and then pulled out some games. We did an alphabet train puzzle, and we played Blokus. Honestly Blokus isn't one of my favorite games (I think I just don't have the spacial abilities to be good at it, and unfortunately I like to win a little too much), but I love playing Blokus with my kids. There are so many learning opportunities with that game: colors, numbers, shapes, spacial orientation, same and different. It was really a lot of fun. After that we went up to their room, they helped me put away all of their toys and blocks, we got pajamas on, brushed teeth, read scriptures (Alma and the sons of Mosiah tonight... DJ said the Angel put them in time out) said prayers and put them both to bed, DJ in his bed, and Andrew in my bed. I've found these last few days that if I put Andrew to bed in a separate room they both fall to sleep a lot quicker with fewer messes. Then came the one and only screaming and crying of the day. At first I thought DJ didn't want to go to bed, or was mad that I separated him and Andrew, but all he was upset about was that he had two dinosaur toys, and he wanted to give one of them to Andrew. After he did that, he was happy and he laid right down and went to sleep.
All in all it wasn't too unusual of a day. There were just a few minor/major differences. I was a lot more productive in the morning, so I got everything done a lot quicker and I could do other things in the afternoon and evening. I played with my kids and gave them the attention they needed, so they were not acting up trying to get my attention. At no point during the day did I try to make them go play somewhere else while I sat on the computer playing a game or looking at Pintrest. I wasn't stressed today, I didn't feel overwhelmed like I usually do, I was happy, my children were happy, it was nice.
The other major difference today was that DJ was running around half naked all day (except when we went outside or to the store, then he wore some loose pants, but without anything underneath). I've discovered that whenever DJ has on a diaper, or pull-ups, or even underwear, he has no interest in using the toilet, but when he is butt naked, he is all for it. All day yesterday and again today I've been doing this, and he has been doing great! Yesterday I kept reminding him to go every so often and he would go when I told him to, and he had one minor accident and that was all. Today we were doing pretty much the same thing, except I wasn't reminding him to go quite as often. Sometimes I would ask him if he needs to go and he would say no, and then he would decide that he wants to go anyways just a couple of minutes later. At one point today while we were doing that alphabet train puzzle DJ jumped up and ran to the bathroom and did his business without any reminder at all, without any mess, and without any hassle at all. I was so proud of him, I wanted to cry.
I was taught an important lesson in patience and perseverance today.When we were playing with the blocks, I would build a cool tower and then DJ would wait until I finished and then he would say "wow!" and then knock if over. Well, I was building my biggest, best, grandest structure yet when Andrew comes over and knocks it over before I finished. Yes, it was all going to be knocked over, but I really like that DJ lets me finish it before he knocks it over. So in a moment of frustration, I kinda snapped at Andrew... yeah, I know I shouldn't have... but DJ immediately says, "uhoh, try again!" and he starts handing me blocks. He did the same thing when Andrew destroyed his Lego airplane that he had worked so hard on, when he couldn't get the piece to fit just right in the puzzle, as well as several other times. "Try again," has become his catch phrase. He says it so often, I love it!
I've also been thinking about Dean's job all day long. He got a second job a couple of weeks ago, and last week because of a mix-up he ended working both of his jobs on the same days, one during the day, and one at night. He only got about three hours of sleep over a 72 hour period. By the end he was hallucinating and I'm a bit surprised that he made it home safely. He's got it worked out now so that will never happen again. He is still in the National Guard too, so he was supposed to be doing that this weekend, but for some reason they let him off, and they're still going to pay him for being there, so he was able to pick up another couple of extra shifts at McDonalds this weekend when he wouldn't have been able to otherwise. We were a little worried about him not being able to work on his national guard weeks, because every time he does that, it's pretty much a whole week that he misses out of both jobs, and he really doesn't get paid enough by them to make up for missing out on the other jobs, but they let him off this month, and just by chance McDonalds asked if he could cover a shift on Thursday and another one tonight. It all just seems so... perfect... as though there were a divine hand in it. Apparently the regional manager of McDonalds has heard a lot of really good things about Dean and they really like him, and they are going to do everything they can to keep him from quitting there, which he is awfully close to doing, so it looks like he's getting a raise, and probably a promotion as well. We have been so blessed.
Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of my evening. Both kids are asleep. Dean doesn't get home until 10:30, and I don't really want to go to bed before he gets home, so maybe I'll exercise like I kinda skipped today... or maybe I'll prepare the talk that I have to give two weeks from now... or maybe I'll mop the floor, it kinda needs it. So many possibilities :)
When we got home Andrew went down for a nap, and DJ decided that it was time for him to take a nap too... but what he actually wanted to do was watch a movie. Andrew's nap time is more often than not his movie time, but he still calls it nap time. That kept him quiet and happy for an hour or so, while I washed laundry and did everything else that I had planned on doing today. Much much earlier than I usually get everything done. When DJ was done watching his movie we played a game until Andrew woke up. Daddy went to work around then too. DJ, Andrew and I had Quesadillas for lunch, and they both ate all of theirs without any complaints.
After lunch we all went and played in the backyard. We have a huge backyard shared with all of the other townhouses in our group, but hardly anyone ever plays back there other than us, so it's pretty much our backyard. We threw Frisbees back and forth to each other. DJ is actually getting pretty good at it. His throws go pretty far, and more often than not lately, his aim hasn't been too far off. We played out there for a long time and when we came back in, then it really was nap time for both of them. I put DJ down first because I wanted to spend a little time with Andrew one on one, so we played for about half an hour, before I put him down. Andrew always takes shorter afternoon naps than DJ anyways so they got up around the same time today.
While they were napping I had my free time. I usually do all of the chores for the day during that time, but since we had gotten them all done in the morning I actually had some time to myself, and for once I didn't waste it away on the internet or playing some silly game. I pulled out the book that I started working on years ago and I read over that and added a few notes and ideas. It was something that I've been wanting to get back to for a really long time, but I've never really had much time. The kids woke up shortly before dinner time, so we played with blocks for a while, and then they helped me make macaroni and cheese and broccoli. Once again, they ate their meals with no complaint, and no throwing of food, which is a bit miraculous.
After dinner we cleaned up really quickly, and then pulled out some games. We did an alphabet train puzzle, and we played Blokus. Honestly Blokus isn't one of my favorite games (I think I just don't have the spacial abilities to be good at it, and unfortunately I like to win a little too much), but I love playing Blokus with my kids. There are so many learning opportunities with that game: colors, numbers, shapes, spacial orientation, same and different. It was really a lot of fun. After that we went up to their room, they helped me put away all of their toys and blocks, we got pajamas on, brushed teeth, read scriptures (Alma and the sons of Mosiah tonight... DJ said the Angel put them in time out) said prayers and put them both to bed, DJ in his bed, and Andrew in my bed. I've found these last few days that if I put Andrew to bed in a separate room they both fall to sleep a lot quicker with fewer messes. Then came the one and only screaming and crying of the day. At first I thought DJ didn't want to go to bed, or was mad that I separated him and Andrew, but all he was upset about was that he had two dinosaur toys, and he wanted to give one of them to Andrew. After he did that, he was happy and he laid right down and went to sleep.
All in all it wasn't too unusual of a day. There were just a few minor/major differences. I was a lot more productive in the morning, so I got everything done a lot quicker and I could do other things in the afternoon and evening. I played with my kids and gave them the attention they needed, so they were not acting up trying to get my attention. At no point during the day did I try to make them go play somewhere else while I sat on the computer playing a game or looking at Pintrest. I wasn't stressed today, I didn't feel overwhelmed like I usually do, I was happy, my children were happy, it was nice.
The other major difference today was that DJ was running around half naked all day (except when we went outside or to the store, then he wore some loose pants, but without anything underneath). I've discovered that whenever DJ has on a diaper, or pull-ups, or even underwear, he has no interest in using the toilet, but when he is butt naked, he is all for it. All day yesterday and again today I've been doing this, and he has been doing great! Yesterday I kept reminding him to go every so often and he would go when I told him to, and he had one minor accident and that was all. Today we were doing pretty much the same thing, except I wasn't reminding him to go quite as often. Sometimes I would ask him if he needs to go and he would say no, and then he would decide that he wants to go anyways just a couple of minutes later. At one point today while we were doing that alphabet train puzzle DJ jumped up and ran to the bathroom and did his business without any reminder at all, without any mess, and without any hassle at all. I was so proud of him, I wanted to cry.
I was taught an important lesson in patience and perseverance today.When we were playing with the blocks, I would build a cool tower and then DJ would wait until I finished and then he would say "wow!" and then knock if over. Well, I was building my biggest, best, grandest structure yet when Andrew comes over and knocks it over before I finished. Yes, it was all going to be knocked over, but I really like that DJ lets me finish it before he knocks it over. So in a moment of frustration, I kinda snapped at Andrew... yeah, I know I shouldn't have... but DJ immediately says, "uhoh, try again!" and he starts handing me blocks. He did the same thing when Andrew destroyed his Lego airplane that he had worked so hard on, when he couldn't get the piece to fit just right in the puzzle, as well as several other times. "Try again," has become his catch phrase. He says it so often, I love it!
I've also been thinking about Dean's job all day long. He got a second job a couple of weeks ago, and last week because of a mix-up he ended working both of his jobs on the same days, one during the day, and one at night. He only got about three hours of sleep over a 72 hour period. By the end he was hallucinating and I'm a bit surprised that he made it home safely. He's got it worked out now so that will never happen again. He is still in the National Guard too, so he was supposed to be doing that this weekend, but for some reason they let him off, and they're still going to pay him for being there, so he was able to pick up another couple of extra shifts at McDonalds this weekend when he wouldn't have been able to otherwise. We were a little worried about him not being able to work on his national guard weeks, because every time he does that, it's pretty much a whole week that he misses out of both jobs, and he really doesn't get paid enough by them to make up for missing out on the other jobs, but they let him off this month, and just by chance McDonalds asked if he could cover a shift on Thursday and another one tonight. It all just seems so... perfect... as though there were a divine hand in it. Apparently the regional manager of McDonalds has heard a lot of really good things about Dean and they really like him, and they are going to do everything they can to keep him from quitting there, which he is awfully close to doing, so it looks like he's getting a raise, and probably a promotion as well. We have been so blessed.
Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of my evening. Both kids are asleep. Dean doesn't get home until 10:30, and I don't really want to go to bed before he gets home, so maybe I'll exercise like I kinda skipped today... or maybe I'll prepare the talk that I have to give two weeks from now... or maybe I'll mop the floor, it kinda needs it. So many possibilities :)
Comments
Post a Comment