Do you ever have one of those "Calgon, take me away" days? (I just had to include these funny commercials from the 80's)

Aaaagghhhh!!!!! Do you ever have one of those days when you're ready to pull your hair out?  It really hasn't been an out-of-the-ordinary day, but for some reason I'm on the verge of losing it.  It may be that I've had a sinus headache for 3 weeks straight.  More than likely, it's PMS (yes Spence, I admit that it's a real thing and that it does put me on edge! :P)

Sometimes home-school with Hayes is magical.  Sometimes it's really good.  Sometimes it goes poorly, but not that often.  TODAY it was torture!  I was losing my temper and Hayes was crying every other minute.  Does this make you all want to pull your kids right out of school and try it?  The sad thing is that the day started out really good.  I was even bragging to my mom that when I left to take Chase to school, Hayes asked if I would drop him at the barn with his books (biographies of George Washington & Clara Barton) so he could read in the haystack.  He told me he LOVED reading.  WOW!  I don't know how things went so downhill from there.

It was probably that I got involved in the mix (aren't you proud of how I'm willing to take responsibility for my hand in this day...it's taken years to do so :)  As Hayes and I sat down to math...which he normally loves...he kept saying it was too easy, even when it was stuff I hadn't taught him yet (stalling tactic).  Then he kept dropping his pencil on the floor over and over...I swear he does this on purpose :).  Then he kept whining and tearing up whenever I asked him to complete a problem.  It was like pulling teeth---both of ours.  He complained that I was talking in a mean voice, which I, of course denied.  Then he said I was getting mad, to which I responded in my most level voice that I was not mad, but was merely requiring him to do his work.  You can imagine how this went for 20 or 30 minutes.  It ended with me sending him to his room.

Later that afternoon, we decided to carve pumpkins...what was I thinking???  Chase was home by now and we carried the pumpkins out on the lawn while both kids whined and cried about this or that.  The pumpkins were too heavy and the lawn was too far and the stuttering, stammering and tearing up again on Hayes's part.  Chase wanted to hold the pattern papers but I took them away from him so the puppy wouldn't chew them up.  He cried and threw a fit.  I also threw a fit telling them that I was only doing this for them and that I didn't care if we carved pumpkins or not. (actually a lie). Well, somehow we got through it, with a lot more whining and cussing, but quit with only one of the pumpkins finished.

As we finished, Chase was saying  "EAT EAT EAT".  Apparently he was hungry because he had refused the 20 different items I had made and offered to him for lunch and snacks. I was thinking, Can't I just sit down for a minute...I don't feel so good. (Did I mention that we're just coming off a week in which both my kids had the stomach flu?) "COME COME"...he tugs relentlessly on my arm.  I get him a snack and now he's not interested.  I'm not surprised.  At this point he's panicked due to the lack of Sponge Bob.  I decided this would be a good time to teach him that he can't have everything he wants right when he wants it.  WHY did I do it???  After 15 long minutes of hearing Sponge Bob's name cried out every 10 seconds, I gave in and threw (literally) him on my bed to watch Sponge Bob.  I went to take his shoes off and noticed he was missing one.  I quickly asked him whether his shoe was inside or outside (remember the puppy) and he said "nin" which is in.  Phew! (How naive could I be?)

I looked at the clock and realized I better get a hustle on for dinner and ran out to start the grill.  Wouldn't you know it, there on the grass was Chase's shoe chewed to pieces by the puppy.  Can I cry now?  And here I sit with the grill blazing with no meat in it hoping that by writing it all down I can let it go.  Don Williams is playing on the stereo in the other room.  You'd think this may have a calming effect, but in comes Hayes.  He wants to shut it off so he can watch something different than Chase on the TV in the living room. (how did my kids get so spoiled and demanding? Please don't answer that)  I tell him, "No, he can live without TV for 30 minutes."  He wants me to take him to Spence.  "No," again, "I'm not going to drive him up the the White Corrals where he's working, I've got to make dinner."  Suddenly my cell phone is ringing.  The caller ID says "our house".  I think, how cute, Hayes wants to apologize to me over the phone for what a turkey he's been all day.  As soon as I pick up and say hello, the line goes dead.  And then Spence's phone, which he's forgotten in the bedroom, starts to ring.  Hayes had called me by accident.  He really wanted to talk to his dad....either to tell on me for being mean or to ask him to come rescue him from his monster mother.  Oh, but here he is now with a bottle of spray starch in his hand...he needs to tell me that Chase had been spraying it in my room. How lovely. This is the same kid who, two nights ago at 3 am, poured a whole quart of ranch dressing on my carpeted bedroom floor.  I do thank Hayes sincerely though, for taking the starch from him (See, I'm not all bad).

So that's where we stand.  There are still several hours until bedtime, so let's see if I can change my attitude and end it on a peaceful note. I'll probably burn the steaks or run out of propane or both...that would be just my luck! :)

Don't let the creepy guy at the end scare you.