Is there something in the water? Was the moon in a strange orbit? Because yesterday was tough. TUFF. Maybe it was the post-vacation madness. Maybe it was teething. Maybe it was the cold. Or maybe it was just another manic Monday.
Some of my friends on the interwebs mentioned that yesterday was tough for them too (solidarity, sisters) so I am convinced it was not just our home that was crazy sauce yesterday. But oh dearie, it was a hair-pulling, tantrum-throwing, lots-of-sighing, praying kind of day around here.
Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start, okay I'll stop).
We started the day with at least twelve tantrums. She had to eat breakfast in my lap. I had to be holding her, or death to me. But if I held her incorrectly, it was also no bueno. She dropped to the floor and cried/whined every other minute and I found myself wondering if 8am was too early for wine.
But I was able to distract her with various things: Daniel Tiger, painting, bubbles, singing, dancing, PLEADING, etc.
This brief moment of calm was when something particularly interesting was on Daniel Tiger (thank you PBS for saving my brain cells).
She then promptly moved on to doing exactly what she shouldn't be doing - playing with the Christmas ornaments on the tree. If I said, "no thank you Emma" she would drop the the floor to tantrum it out, then promptly get back up to yank on the baubles some more.
Enter me, just throwing in the towel for the day. I called it, death to the house rules at 9:37 am on Monday the 30th.
Not one care was given on this day. NOPE.
After tantrum number ONE MILLION, I moved on to trying to entertain her with her mountains of toys. Please God, just stop tantruming! I piled her stuffed animals on top of her and she somehow managed to laugh and tantrum at the same time. She would giggle and then revert to "crying" just to make sure I knew who was boss.
How does she do it? Laugh - cry - laugh - whine - laugh - REPEAT UNTIL MOTHER IS DEAD.
Angry laughing? Is that even a thing?
When she had finally had enough of all the fun, she insisted on being held. So in the sling she went. This worked as long as I was swaying at the exact tempo and velocity to her liking. I said my fifth prayer/plea to our Lord to send peace and calm our way. I wondered if 10:27am was too early for red.
Is that not the most "mom hair" you ever saw in your entire life? YUCK.
At another point (I had lost track of the number of whiney/cry fits she had at this point) she had to be put down, LIKE NOW OR ELSE. She then proceeded to tantrum cry while crawling around the kitchen to sob in the corner by the fridge. That was an especially weird moment of the day.
Alrighty then.
I then had the idea to do something creative so I taped some paper to the bathtub wall, slapped some finger paints up, threw in the paint brushes, and tossed the tot in with just a diaper. We listened to some Christmas music and I enjoyed a moment of peace while she was happy.
She kept handing me a brush so I could join her. She was pretty focused on this project for a while but when she tried to crawl out covered in paint, I had to turn the bath on. Messes and me do not mix. NOPE.
At some point it was paper optional.
After a quick bath and another tantrum or two, we moved on to lunch. She ate hers well enough but when I went to eat mine, she just had to be sitting on my lap but also facing the TV to watch some more Daniel then at some point fell asleep. I suppose all those tantrums were tiring. I moved her to our bed (remember, no rules) and laid down next to her and blogged from bed.
Unfortunately her nap was much shorter than we both would have liked (WAHHHHH) and after tantrum number ONE BILLION I decided that some fresh air would help so off on a walk we went. She usually does well when we take walks so we bundled up and enjoyed the crisp autumn air. We headed to Starbucks first then just walked around our neighborhood.
She collected various leaves (well, commanded me to pick them up, obviously) and at some point she took off her shoes and threw them, so there's that.
We made it back home and started on dinner prep, she of course needed to be glued to me so I put her to work. She sat on the counter top near the sink and helped me wash all the veggies, then she sat on the counter near the cutting board and handed me each potato and carrot one by one to chop. I added the olive oil and spices and she helped me stir. I had to put her down when I dressed the raw chicken so of course, tantrum number ONE ZILLION happened.
When Paul finally got home, I could relax a little bit because more hands are always better. After dinner we gave her another bath because bath time is always helpful for her mood.
Bubble baths make the world go 'round. Am I right?
We ended the CRAZY day with some books and milk by the tree. I was more exhausted emotionally than anything, but she just needed me. What can you do? BIG FAT NOTHING.
I am happy to be with her right now, things are often tough, but I am grateful for this time. (Even when I want to rip my hair out.) I will likely be working soon, so I shall soak in as much crazy as I can. Follow all the craziness over on SNAPCHAT (@substance_soul).
Yesterday was a manic Monday. But it was ours.