It's a new day

I didn't have any energy left last night after getting the kids to bed and cleaning up to get on the computer. Matt got home around 9:20 last night while I was sweeping the kitchen floor and stated the truth that it's a sign of a long, hard day when I am still cleaning up that late. The day had its ups and downs, but the decision to invite my Mom over after she got out of work to play cards made it a later night. We ate dinner and then played cards until 7:30. The kids had a great time playing Barbies together. The problem began when Zoe had a hard time settling down and she was not getting ready for bed. I brought up the fact that she would like a later bedtime because all of her friends go to bed at 8:00, but she was giving me the hardest time about getting ready for bed. Well this had her in tears because apparently the kids at school have been making fun of her because she goes to bed at 7:00, which I didn't realize. I knew she had mentioned to my Mom that all of her friends go to bed at 8:00, but I didn't know that she had told them she goes to bed at 7:00 and that didn't go over well with them. I really don't care what her friends think, but I do care that this has become a big issue for Zoe. I told Zoe I would talk to Matt about letting her stay up until 8:00. The deal would be that she gets ready for bed with her siblings and then she'll stay up and read for an hour...which is what she does anyway when she goes into her room at 7:00, but she'll get to read in the living room instead. I was thinking this morning that she should have told her friends that she goes into her room at 7:00 and then she reads and stays up as late as she wants because really that's how it works. But anyway, what is done is done.

Another issue last night was Zach wanting to be held during scriptures while I was holding Kate. He has a habit lately of bugging Kate while she's playing, which results in her crying and then I end up holding her. And then Zach wants me to hold him. I wish he would just come over to me and ask to be held while Kate is happy playing. So while Zoe was reading her verses last night, Zach was hitting me and Kate because I wouldn't pick him up. This made Kate cry and I was getting angry. I kept pushing him away until I made him cry. I shut my scriptures and told Zoe to keep reading. She hesitated because tears were forming in her eyes...probably because her mother was destroying any hope of the Spirit being present. We got through our family prayer with me in tears and then the kids went to bed a little after 8:00. I felt like a horrible mother. But fortunately for me, children are very forgiving and it is a new day.

I went outside again with Eleanor and Zach earlier this morning, but we didn't stay out long because there wasn't much to do and Eleanor needed to go to the bathroom. The snow is icy and slippery. Eleanor and Zach tried going on the sled, but it went way too fast for Zach's liking and they nearly gave me a heart attack as they lost control and started to head toward a bunch of wood and the basketball hoop. They didn't end up crashing, but I made sure Eleanor went down the middle of the hill where she couldn't crash into anything the next few times she went down.