Mommy Snapped

I bet that title got your attention!  

Well, it's true.  

Mommy snapped last week.

That little child pictured above -- in his mis-matched outfit, pants on backwards, shirt on backwards, (his underwear are on backwards too), trying to put his brother's tie on -- has been making me crazy.  He chose that outfit because he does what he wants.  And come hell or high-water, there is no convincing him that an outfit like that won't work.  Or that ANY of his ideas won't work. 

When he turned three he turned from a perfect angel to the devil.  Three years old was Buddy's hardest year too, but oh wow, the contrast between 2 months ago and now.  Joy vs. Sorrow.  

The peace before.  The screaming incessantly now.  The mellow, go-with-the-flow attitude.  The "ME DO IT!" attitude now.  The "I don't care if people play with my toys" before.  The "MINE!" now.  The sitting still before.  The curious and into everything now.  It's been quite the fun past few weeks.  My ears are ringing constantly and I can not get rid of this headache.

And then you add my oldest son who is hyper and doesn't stop talking.  And a husband who is never, ever home because he works every night and every weekend.  And the holidays/birthdays which wore me out.  And a case of the stomach flu (for me) last weekend.  And a horrible case of insomnia that came upon me this week.  I've only had insomnia one other time in my life and that was many years ago.  Why this is happening right now when I could REALLY use some rest is beyond me. 

Yep-mommy was worn to a frazzle last week.  

(I know, woah is me.  My life is so hard.)

I knew I needed a break.  Like a long break or I was going to do something I regretted.  I was already picking up a pretty serious swearing problem.  (Buddy asked G in privacy Friday if I was going to get into heaven since I swear so much.)  Plus I knew that my boys were acting up in part because they don't see their father enough.  

So I made a phone call to G at work on Thursday that went something like this.

"Hi.  I'm really sorry your day is busy.  But my day is horrific.  I'm exhausted because I haven't slept in over a week.  Buddy is sick with a fever and was up all night with insomnia too.  Sambo won't stop screaming.  Hear him in the background?  That's because I wouldn't let him wipe his own bum.  Oh, and just to let you know, I'm clocking out tonight at bedtime and I will not be back on duty until Saturday morning.  So either you take the day off work tomorrow, or you are going to need to hire a nanny and she needs to be here at 7am to get the kids up tomorrow.  What's that?  You have a project due tomorrow.  Oh that's really too bad.  I'll send you a list of nanny options then.  Don't call any of my friends because they are stressed out too."

Two hours later I sent him an instant message and asked how the plans were coming.  

And this my friends, I why I married this man.  He got it all worked out.  

I got the entire day off on Friday and I'm guessing I'll be in a good mood as a result for at least a month.  It was marvelous.  (It actually would have been even better -- if that's possible -- if I wasn't so $%#$ exhausted from my insomnia and if my headache from the screaming children hadn't lingered so long.)  I'm sort of thinking of doing this every six months. 

Here's what I did. 

• Slept in until 10:15.  
• Went furniture shopping.  
• Went to the gym.
• Showered at the gym in peace without little hands touching my make-up and dumping dishwasher soap all over the kitchen while I was in the shower.
• Took myself to lunch.
• Went shopping at several stores. Picked out some new silverware that G's parents said they would buy for us LAST Christmas, but I haven't had time to pick out with children in tow.
• Went to the mall. 
• Sat down at the mall and watched people.  Didn't talk to anyone or listen to anyone. 
• Continued shopping at the mall.
• Got myself a light dinner.
• Went to a meeting at LDSFS.
• Came home at 9:30 to sleeping children and a clean house.  And an exhausted husband.

I love leaving G with the children for so many reasons.  I love getting a break, I love returning refreshed and more excited to be with my kids, I love that G gets to hear what I mean when I say our two children are the loudest two children ever to be born, I love that I can always count on G cleaning the house and leaving it immaculate, I love that I can count on G to do housework I've been putting off, like cleaning Sambo's warzone of a bedroom, I love that the kids don't attention-seek and act up as much because they are enjoying time with their father, I love hearing all the hilarious stories from G's day with the kids, I love hearing that he broke the unpardonable sin and peeled Sambo's banana, and I love remembering how lucky I am to be married to someone who takes SOS calls at work seriously.