Oh what a night

Ok, not really.

Tonight has been nothing ridiculously out of the ordinary.

Other than an easy-as-pie bedtime, which, ok, ok, is fairly rare.

We've had a great weekend so far.

Spent the night at my sweetie's last night.

Left around lunch time today.

Signed Rayce up for t-ball.

Had lunch and played outside and played playdoh and then had dinner with Amy, Corbin, and Brooke.

Rayce was covered in new spots that are hugely swollen and warm and red.

Liliya passed out on the couch.

Grampa and MiMa came to visit for a bit.

Happy Birthday Grampa!

Put the kids in bed and they stayed there. QUIETLY!

It's only 930 and I'm already in bed.

Grateful for an easy bedtime.

For sunshine.

For spring, finally.

For friends.

For family.

For my obnoxious kids.

Who were a lot less obnoxious today, thanks to some very sage advice.

"Treat them more like you would treat someone else's child".

That's what I worked on today.

And it seems to work.

Keeps me a lot calmer.

And seems to get better results.

Probably because I've been calmer!

If someone else's kid was playing with a huge stick, would I start yelling?

Nope.

I would tell them nicely to put it down.

If someone else's kid kept getting up out of their seat, would I start yelling?

Nope.

I'd tell them to keep their bottom on their chair.

I feel sometimes like all I do is yell.

And where does that get me?

It gets me high blood pressure and a headache, most of the time.

And it does NOT produce the desired results anyway.

Yelling at the kids doesn't make them listen.

So why do I yell?

Probably because I was yelled at.

But 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result'.

I'm done with that.

If it doesn't work, it's not worth my time.

I've gotten so sick of my life lately. 

Sick of parenting.

Sick of this spot where I'm soooo very stuck.

Sick of doing the same thing over and over.

I know what the result is.

It's the same as it always has been.

DUH!

So, I'm changing it up.

Trying something different.

Not just with the kids.

With life.

It needs to change.

And I need to make it happen.