The Hoffman Family Adventures: DPP Day Four

Day Four and Friday! Friday is a celebration in this household. All week we are asked (especially by Brandon), "Is tomorrow a school day or a home day?" When Friday comes, we can answer, "School day - but then TWO home days!" The morning routine usually goes a little smoother. . . most Fridays. This morning started with so much sweetness. The three littlests all came into our bed to snuggled up with me. We were talking about silly things that made us laugh. I love that if we squeeze in tight, I can still get all three of them in my arms at once. When it was time to get ready, we all begrudgingly got out of bed to get ready. It was about that time that the sweetness ended. K was temper tantrum central. She had a lot of trouble going to sleep last night and that tired was showing up in full force. E was trying to be helpful but with an air of superiority that younger brothers find incredibly offensive. Rich, in an act of desperation to just make it all end, piled them all into the car early. I had run upstairs to grab something and they were all gone before I came back down. It was funny how fast I could go from annoyed with them to sad that I hadn't gotten to say goodbye. Feeling their void, I texted Rich to see if they had left. Sweet man that he is - he brought them back for me to say goodbye. Then - the sweetness returned. Big hugs, big kisses, big I love yous. Sigh. That is definitely the good stuff.

Tonight began early with a trip to the vet for Teddy. Getting his shots up to date and a quick visit. We could not believe how well behaved he was at the vet. He sat like this or right beside my leg the entire visit. He would give an occasional bark at a dog that barked at him - but he would stay put. When I compare this to Lucky, who pulled and barked so much - they had a room ready for her the minute they saw us coming, I preferred today's visit. What a good boy! He showed a really lovely temperament today. I hope it stays. :)

When Teddy and I returned from the vet, I was bombarded with play date and sleepover requests. We are glad when we have a day when we can say yes - so we did. They both got to have a friend over for a little while. K was still in her ultra tired mood. She threw a true two year old tantrum because Rich didn't give her the right piece of paper (the other one was sitting within reach for her). Brandon spent a lot of time being insulted when someone looked at him. I never know quite how to respond to that particular tattling - "Mooooooom, (insert name here) is looking at me!!!" I toy with lots of different options. "Now I am looking at you too and so if everyone else." "Where does it hurt? Should we get an ice pack?" Sometimes it is a shame that sarcasm is lost on children. I skip the ones that might amuse me and stick with, "That sounds like something you can work out on your own."

We love our family dinners and usually they are the Norman Rockwell experience that we hope that they would be. We go around the table to share something about our day. Unfortunately today, the discontent was still brewing. Fits over which sippy cup has milk and which has water. Fits over who took too much cheese and who smiled when someone else got corrected. So here is our not so perfect family dinner. You can see the stress in Rich's face. The movement in K in her right arm as she protested sippy cups and frustration in the other three. Hey - at least we had broccoli. So something good came out of that meal.

The kids enjoyed their advent calendar chocolates. . . and then the sleepovers fell apart (from the other end, not ours). The long week had caught up with us. And those kids work hard all week at school and we are busy in the evenings. And that disappointment was just more than they could take for today. Meltdown central for one kiddo. There were tears and even one flying object. I decided to use Rich's tactic from the morning. I sent them to the car. I wasn't sure yet what I was going to do with them - but we needed to breathe, slow down, and find some small way to salvage this Friday evening.

So we got frozen yogurt. It gave us a bit of sweetness to end the day. Well, a lot of sweetness when you consider the free range toppings. There were cartoons to distract them from their irritations with their siblings and they began to laugh together. Most importantly, it brought bedtime a bit closer which is really the cure for this struggle. We all just needed rest. Now as I sit here typing - it is quiet, calm. And this mama can barely keep her eyes open indicating it isn't just the kids that need to rest.