Challenges of a Stay-at-Home-Mom

This morning, it was all I could do to put the kids off until 9:30 before we started getting ready to go to the pool. Getting ready to go to the pool is quite the undertaking. First, I fix the lunches and pack the cooler. Then, Pressley gets a swim diaper and bathing suit on; Evan gets his bathing suit on. Then, we lube up with the sunscreen. Then, we pack the stroller. We have to decide how many pool toys can make the trip because only so many will fit in the stroller basket. Then, I push the fully loaded stroller up the killer hill to the pool. This all takes about an hour. This morning, we got to the pool at a little after 10:30 a.m. Thank goodness that today there was nobody there that I know. Pressley threw a tantrum from the moment we arrived until I finally made good on the threats to take her back home - a little before 11:00 a.m. It was humiliating. You would think that all the threats and the time-outs and the reasoning would have eventually worked, but no such luck. The child was just determined to have one melt-down after another. We were back home and eating lunch by 11:15, and then Pressley went straight to bed for her nap. Thankfully, she is still sleeping. I suppose we will try again this afternoon. Such is life with a temperamental 2 year old.

As a side note, I felt really bad for Evan because he was a little angel throughout the ordeal, even offering Pressley every toy he could get his hands on to try to stop the shrieking. Yet, when both our efforts failed, he had to leave the pool too. If any of you parents out there have figured out how to only punish the offending child without also punishing the innocent child in such a situation, do let me know.

And, finally, just so you know, I do realize that those of you who live from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. under fluorescent lights in an office are thinking, "Cry me a river. A bad day at the pool is still better than a good day at the office." Agreed. I am blessed to have this time with my kids, but this is my forum to vent when things are less than perfect, so indulge me.