Uck. I'm paying the price for staying up past my bedtime several nights in a row I think. I don't feel tired, but I am snappy as all get-out! I'm feeling very pessimistic in general. Not a good day to have gone to two stores with all four kids in tow. The deal was; stay by me and don't touch anything and you can have fruit snacks in the car. HAH. Apparently it wasn't motivation enough. At the music store they found the maraccas and were perusing music books "just like me". At the kid's clothing store they found toys with musical buttons to push (oh WHY, oh WHY, did anyone ever invent those?). And at the clothing store it all came undone at the same time. Two kids started pressing toy buttons and another slipped out of the stroller to investigate said toys while a fourth wailed directly into my ear, and I do mean wailed. Inwardly I laughed and cringed and screamed, all at the same time. Outwardly, I smiled, took a deep breath, and used a quiet yet stern voice to regather my monkeys.

In hindsight, both stores could have waited until I was able to go with one, maybe two monkeys.

I hate hindsight today.

It's time for me to kick things into gear and really work to reverse those buts!

I'd really like to say:

I love my kids, but they drive me crazy when they touch things in stores.

I love how inquisitive they are, but they drive me crazy when they ask me the same question five times in 10 seconds.

I love how willing the big girls are to help with the younger ones, but it drives me crazy when doing so causes a whole new problem as they pick up younger children or hold their hands to keep them somewhere.

I love how much my girls love to have fun and how creative they are in the ways they play, but it drives me crazy when they take blankets out of the linen closet and spread them all over their room.

But instead I'm going to say:

It drives me crazy when my kids touch things in the stores, but I really love my kids.


It drives me crazy when they ask me the same question over and over again, but I love how inquisitive they are!


It drives me crazy when my girls help to point of insanity, but I love how willing they are to even help!


It drives me crazy when they take blankets out of the linen closet and spread them out all over their room, but I love how creative my girls are in the ways they play!

There. Buts reversed. Sounds and feels so much better.

I'm also reminding myself that touching things in stores, asking questions repeatedly, being motherly, and playing creatively, are ALL traits that won't ruin the world. In fact, of all the things to be frustrated about, these are traits that could benefit them in the future! I'll just think of all the shopping they'll one day do and what good deals they'll find, what great babysitters they will one day be and what good mothers they will be, and how their creative play will be a springboard for all sorts of ideas that will benefit them in the future.

Yeah. It's easier to let it go if I think about it that way.