Tired?

I am tired.

I think that all parents are tired.  And maybe all adults are tired.

If you are an adult who is not tired, could you please let me know who you are, and what's your secret?  Sleep?  Undisturbed sleep?

So, I'm a stay-at-home mom, and I wish that meant that my house is organized, that the cupboards are full, and that I find time to watch Ellen everyday.  But none of that applies to me.  I try to "earn my keep", and I work hard to keep the house tidy and the family functioning, and those little people who live here keep me very busy with the fetching of toys, the feeding of snacks, the reading of books, the races to the toilet because they never have to go potty until they havetogopottyrightnow!!!!...

But occasionally, only occasionally, I allow myself to just sit and close my eyes and rest, because I find that I am tired. Today was one of those days when I decided Yes, I'm just going to get cozy right here and close my eyes for a bit because I just don't have the energy to do, well, anything. 

Within the first minute of my self-awarded resting time, Lucy asked for a snack, but not just any snack- she asked for a smoothie.  Now, I don't want to brag, of course, but I must say that I make a pretty fantastic smoothie.  When I was in college, I worked at a smoothie place in Santa Barbara called Blenders, and it was like Jamba Juice except waaayyyy better, and lets just say that I mastered the liquid to frozen fruit ratio.  So, Lucy asks for a smoothie, like, every single day, and as a result,  I have grown to hate making smoothies.   Making a smoothie is nearly a 47 step process, and Max and Lucy always want to "help", which is really the exact opposite of "help", and my reply to the smoothie request is most often no, not right now.  Cue the whining: "Whhhhhhyyyyyyyy?  Whhhyyyyy can't you just make us a smoooooooooothie?"  This might be a good time to add that Max also begs for smoothies but never, ever drinks them, so Lucy gets both portions.  I reason, "Can't I just pour a glass of orange juice or slice up an apple?"

Back to my story about taking a moment to rest, Lucy asked for a smoothie, I said heck no, the whining ensued, and then I did the math on my options.  I could either 1) just make the darn smoothie and end the whining, or 2) not make the smoothie and spend my resting time listening to Lucy fall apart at the seams.  Hmmm.  I remembered that someone once told me that bad parenting is easy and good parenting is hard work, so I tried to factor that into my equation- which option is easy and which is hard work?  When that didn't really help me, I just decided that I'd roll over and ignore Lucy and see if she'd give up.  I won!  She gave up after only five minutes of crying, but then she soon returned to ask if I'd get her stuffed bunny, which she left in the van.  "Nope, it is in the van.  You can get it yourself or wait until I'm done resting and then I'll get the bunny and make the smoothie."  After five more minutes of crying, she walked away.  Maybe Lucy was tired too.  Maybe we are all tired.  Maybe we all need naps, all humans, young and old.  Anyway, I continued to rest until Max's face was an inch from mine yelling, "No! Open yo' eyes, mom!"

yes, I took a picture of the very, very sad girl

 
So, my question, dear friends: Do you give in to the child's request in order to get some peace and quiet, or do you enforce patience and suffer the tantrum?

In other news, we sat in the sun at Merry's house this weekend, which was lovely, to say the very least!

We are in the final full month of school!  Woohoo!
Devon is out of town for work, and it is making me remember what it was like when he had to travel a lot, and it is making me feel grateful for blessings in disguise.

And that is all I've got to say for now :)