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Saturday, March 9, 2013

They outnumber me but I survived......

Recently, S's school had a carnival on a Friday evening and S desperately wanted to go.  His Dad works nights so wouldn't be able to go so I thought maybe I could get Aunt H to come with or maybe one or both Littles could stay with Grandma and Grandpa so I could take him.  Taking all three kids someplace alone can be.....overwhelming.  Especially if it is something big and exciting--they get hyper, they want to run around and see everything, they leave their listening ears at home, they are exhausting.  It is one of the constant sources of my mommy guilt, the fact that we sometimes skip doing things because they outnumber me and it can be difficult to make it through a trip with all three alone.  Sure, I do it.  Trips to the grocery store, going to the park, doctor's appointments, etc.  But it is not my first choice and I usually try to have one or two with me instead of all three.  Is it bad to admit that?

S modeling one of his prizes from the Carnival.  

But, alas, nothing was working out and I would either have to brave the concert alone or disappoint a little boy who talked of this carnival for weeks.  I packed them up and headed out.  It was crowded and noisy and crazy and kids were running all over and fighting and pushing and cutting lines and downing large quantities of brightly colored sugar.  And I was amazed to see mine calmly waiting in line, being patient, waiting their turn in long lines for games and bounce houses without complaint.  Who were these little angels and where were my children?

They had tons of fun and when we got home, I had no complaints about going to bed.  The next morning, they were up right away and got ready to go and did awesome in swim lessons.  They both listened, and participated eagerly, and when other kids were goofing around and ignoring the teacher, they were calmly in their spots, waiting for instructions.  Again, who were these little angels and where were my children?

They are both pretty hyper and there are days when I wonder how they can possibly stay awake after moving so much.  Part of it for S is the ADHD and SPD but he has been working hard both at home and school to learn how to calm himself and save the jumping and spinning and twirling for more appropriate times.  I guess the carnival and swim lessons were one of the times when he was practicing extra hard!  Of course, soon afterward we went to the grocery store and things were back to normal with the million and one questions about everything and anything and the spinning in circles whenever I stopped the cart to pick something up and the constant touching of everything ;-)

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