Sunday, September 12, 2010

7 Blogs in 7 Days: Day 7: A Day in the Life

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this blog is a highlight reel. It does not necessarily reflect the adventures of EVERY DAY. Life can't always be about parks & playgrounds, cupcakes and comedy. You have to have the cruddy days to really appreciate the good ones! Here's a not-so-good-one that happened this week.

7 a.m. Addy's awake, goes in to wake up Lilly, Lilly has her first tantrum of the day because Addy is wearing HER panties.

7:30 a.m. I sit down with my cup of tea to ponder breakfast while the girls watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Addy has a fit because Lilly's foot is over the line on the couch and now officially on "her side" of the couch.

8 a.m. Lilly doesn't appreciate her breakfast offerings (granola, strawberries, yogurt) and throws strawberries on the floor. She gets sent to her room for 5 minutes to move the tantrum slightly out of earshot. Addy gets down on the kitchen floor (unprompted) to eat the strawberries off the floor.

Other mid-morning tantrums ranged from small whines to all-out tantrums for reasons such as Addy turning off the television. Lilly calling Addy's baby doll Suzy when she KNOWS her name is DooDoo. A tearful breakdown when a cheerio got stuck in Addy's nose. A tantrum over the pink vs. blue skirts for the day. Tears when hair was getting done, when the DVD player in the car wouldn't come on, when I sang the wrong words to a song in the car, when I passed Target and they realized we weren't going, etc. etc.
I'd love to say that after a good nap, our day got better, but it really didn't. I decided a change of scenery would be good--we headed to the park, met up with friends. I avoided making dinner in order to support a new locally owned pizza joint. Said pizza joint is next-door to our favorite frozen yogurt shop. So, I told the girls if they were good for dinner, we'd have yogurt. They were great, so after firmly warning Lilly that there would be NO tantrums in the yogurt shop (she's been known to have a fit over the toppings I don't let her have an unlimited supply 0f), we went next door. Literally 2 minutes after arriving, she got greedy, "I WANT MORE M & M's", "I WANT A PINK SPOON," "I WANT MORE," and threw herself down on the floor. All of a sudden she was the crazy girl from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I do not want to raise THAT girl.

I took her outside and she proceeded on not apologizing and screaming for her daddy. So, we left. Kicking & screaming, we got in my car and drove home. Daddy, Addy & friends got to stay for yogurt. Probably not my most rational parenting moment, but I was pissed and embarrassed. She raged, she thrashed, she screamed to the point that I thought she'd vomit. It went on for 90 minutes. Every attempt to calm her was pointless. I was a "MEAN" mommy. I finally got her to bed and discussed the ramifications of her behavior. She now tells me every time we drive by the yogurt shop. "Next time we go there mommy, when you say no more, you mean no more, right?"

It was an exhausting day. So this mommy had a glass of wine and went to bed before 10 p.m., dreaming of a tantrum-free day where mommies don't need to be mean.

4 comments:

Jenny said...

Every mommy should write a post about her bad days so we don't feel so bad about our own 3 year olds and their numerous fits about such things as feet crossing the invisible line on the giant couch during [you are lucky to be watching] Mickey Mouse Clubhouse [with that attitude anyway, missy, but mama needs some coffee, so I'll allow it, but I'll yell!]. :) Thanks!

Laura and Jeremy said...

Oh, Aimee, I can sympathize. Right now anytime Addie doesn't get her way/is annoyed/wants something/etc. she instantly whines or cries or screams...and I only have one kid to worry about! Hoping for many tantrum-free days for you! Enjoyed all of the posts.

Brooke said...

Jenny ... Perfectly said! Aimee, thanks for sharing. You are not alone!

Jenny said...

30DS is only 28 minutes. It's at home, and it really pushes you. HARD. Don't know if you checked my older posts to see my "brave" (or so I'm told) before and after pics - keep in mind I was 7wks postpartum!, but you can feel and see a difference after 30 days. DO IT!