My mom is the smartest person in the whole world

So as we all know I have been having all kinds of problems getting Ian to sleep at night. I put him to bed around 8 or 9 and he spends the next two hours or so destroying things, fighting with his sisters, yelling and so on. Instead of peace and quiet that should come with bedtime I hear doors slamming, the girls screaming at Ian and Ian crying. Then the kids come thundering down the stairs half a dozen times to tattle on each other. The girls complain that Ian won't stay out of their room, Ian complains the girls are being mean to him. Then it quiets down but we have found that Ian gets up in the middle of the night to play (remember the Moon Sand?) or to get food to sneak up to his room. Last night he got into the game closet and this morning when I got up there was Monopoly money, puzzle pieces, Sorry cards and all kinds of other game pieces scattered all over the upstairs. Well I have about had it. I called Mom to vent to her about it. She suggested we make Ian a pallet on the living room floor. That way I can keep an eye on him and he can't get into any trouble. And look!



He has been sound asleep since 9:30. Much earlier than usual. Karl said he had never heard of having to move a child out of his room to sleep in the living room . I agree, I never have either. I certainly know I wouldn't have dared to be pulling all those nighttime shenanigans when I was little. Nor would most children. But like I told Karl this particular child is not typical. It isn't that we let him get away with things, he just doesn't have that worry of getting in trouble that most kids have. So until he gets to that point, we are just going to have to keep a much closer eye on him. And having our bedroom on a separate floor just doesn't allow for that so we are going to have to improvise.

So anyway I am so glad my mom thought of it. She is good for looking at things with a clear perspective when I am too overwhelmed to think. So Mom, if you could now solve our other issues for us that would be great. Specifically, what do you do with a child that does not respond to timeout and leaves a wake of destruction in his path on a daily basis? And once you get done with that, head over to ChaBa's blog. She has some baby powder issues that need to be sorted out. Thanks!

All drama, all the time

It has come to my attention that perhaps I am a little dramatic. I noticed that everything that goes on around here seems to be an Event. Me taking all the kids by myself anywhere is an Event. Housetraining the dog is an Event. Giving up naps is an Event. I don't recall hearing other people go into such great detail and dramatics over their events. Which I won't capitalize, because clearly they are not as eventful as my Events.
My latest Event was taking all the kids to get their pictures taken. I ironed the girls' fancy sleeveless floor length dresses, got Ian dressed in his suit, curled the girls' hair, tried to flatten Ian's hair down with a variety of hair product. We ended up carrying the girls' dresses with us so they wouldn't get smooshed in the car. I figured they could change in the bathroom once we got there. Out of the stall comes Alexandria with tattoos on both arms. We forgot about said tattoos because she has been wearing long sleeves. Said tattoos did not go very well with fancy satiny floor length dress. We scrubbed as best we could, I think the end result will be that her arms look a little dirty in the pictures, that is all. When we got in the studio Elizabeth was not impressed. She wanted no part of being photographed and kept crying and bolting for the door. So we basically had to stick her in the spot and the photographer took the picture as fast as she could before Elizabeth took off. Which would have been okay but we had three other people who needed to look presentable as well. Annika had some earring issue and her ear was sore so she kept grabbing on to it and cocking her head to one side. Alexandria was getting all dramatic and doing jazz hands and whatnot. And Ian was...a four year old. Actually he did pretty well. All that being said, I think we got one good picture out of the bunch so I was happy. And even more happy that I won't feel obligated to do that again for awhile.
See, I can create drama out of anything. It is a gift.

New pictures

I just got the little kids' pictures back (apparently shoelessness is the theme of the month.) The big girls got theirs taken at school and we should get them back soon. Also, last week I took all four to get their picture taken together. I think they turned out pretty cute- I can't wait to get them back.

Bad Mommy is on a roll

Yesterday I thought I would be nice and go get the kids donuts for breakfast, we sometimes do this as a treat on Saturdays. We were in a rush (as always) so I told Annika to eat her donut so she could get ready for soccer. Her response? "Mommy, could I have something healthy to eat instead? I think that would be better since I have a game." I hung my head in shame and made her some oatmeal.

Work, work, work

We put them to work early:

Silly Girls

I will not be winning Mother of the Year anytime soon...

Because tonight Annika went to church barefoot. And I didn't notice she was barefoot until we were getting ready to leave the church. Actually I didn't notice, my mom did and pointed it out. And it is a little cold out to be running around shoeless. Here is how my night went, maybe you will have some sympathy for me?

Disclaimer: We have been having behavior issues that have coincided with the decision to cut out Ian's naps. So I know there are problems to address, I am just needing to vent. Also, I am venting here because I can't discuss it in real life because it just makes me mad and tired and frustrated.

Today was normal. We went shopping with Grandma Goody, Elizabeth took a nap and Ian had quiet time. We played outside for awhile. Then the girls got home and all you know what broke loose. It wasn't anything they did, Ian has just completely been flipping out every afternoon right around the time they get home. Maybe he is upset about having to share attention, maybe he is tired from not having a nap. I don't know. Today he got a block of cheddar cheese out of the refridgerator, chewed it up and spit it on the living room carpet. He also took my new eyeliner and colored all over the wall and the toilet. I sent him to timeout, he wouldn't sit in timeout. I took him upstairs to his room and he fought me the entire time. He was acting really ugly and I will admit I was not a shining example of patience. I left him in his room so we could both cool down. When he is in flip-out mode that is about all you can do. You cannot speak to him or reason with him because he is screaming and crying so loud he can't hear you anyway. Eventually he calmed down and we had dinner. I got the kids ready for church. Elizabeth was upset because she loves to go places but does not like to wait for everyone to get ready. So she was at the door crying while I was prodding everyone along. I took the dog out and he refused to do what he was supposed to. So that meant he would inevitably would have an accident while we were gone. I loaded the kids in the car (Annika did have shoes on at that point) and then realized I didn't have keys. Since Ian had taken my keys up to his room on Monday (making us late to soccer practice), I knew he had done something with them again. I asked him where they were, he wouldn't say. So I told everyone to get out of the car and sent Ian up to look for the keys. There was much sassing going on over that. It was suggested that I go look for the keys myself, which did not sit well with me at all. The whole time Elizabeth was crying, completely heartbroken because she had been looking forward to going bye-bye and didn't understand why she was pulled back out of the car and taken inside. After about 20 minutes of searching, I finally found the keys underneath Elmo in Ian's room. So back we went to the car and we did make it to Bible Study, albeit late. We got home to find that, yes indeed Max did have an accident on the floor. Not only that but he managed to somehow stretch his tether in such a way that he was able to leave the kitchen and have his accident on the hardwood floor. So under these circumstances, is it any wonder my children aren't properly dressed?

**Also, do you know what my husband said? He mentioned that Ian and I both have similar tempers and this is why I am having problems dealing with him. Did you ever?