There is this period of time between the minutes school is let out for summer and probably a good month after, that we go through a transition phase at our house. Other terms for it might be, "hell week"...."survival zone"...."mommy's in a bad mood time"....
And other things I may be caught mumbling under my breath as I am trying to diffuse...
Most kids and parents LOVE summer, and don't get me wrong, I do too...BUT...for 2 kids with special needs, the readjustment period is nightmarish...
Transitions take a lot more time. To go from scheduled, structure, familiar repetition day in and day out...which equates to comfort, calmness, reduced anxiety...
TO...
...NO schedule, NO routine, NO structure, NO familiarity...which equates to chaos, madness, anxiety through the roof, elevated fears, behaviors, and madness...
I am by nature, not an organized, routine person. I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants, kinda gal. So you can see where 2 worlds collide...to be organized, scheduled, and routine drives me mad...and NOT to be, drives 2/3 of my children mad.
I always start out the summer with calendars, day planners, activities scheduled ahead of time..snacks prepared for the day, meals laid out--in an effort to lessen the transition time madness we always incur...but my best intentions only go so far...and I immediately turn into survival mode...
Which turns into just putting out fires...hour by hour.
And before long, I'm burnt out. Literally.
I need a mommy time-out.
I am mommy failing big time around here this week...and feel like all I've been doing is reacting, yelling, and apologizing. On repeat.
Here are a few things you might have overheard me say so far...
"Get out of this van now. GO knock on that door right there and see if they will be your new mommy....go! Give it a try! If you keep saying you want new parents so bad, go find them!!!"
Or how about...
"Blake, Blake....BLAKE...BLAKE....(CLAP CLAP)...*whistle, whistle*....stomp, stomp....AHHHHH!!!" He finally looks at me from 10' feet away like listen here crazy lady....I am NOT a dog...quit flailing around trying to get my attention...this is a great episode of Thomas the Train I need to watch first...
Yelling out the front door, while the kids were sitting in the van waiting on me..."Leah come get your stupid lunch box you left on the floor!" (sure the neighbors were impressed)
"If you don't stop crying now, I'm going to eat your whole pack of snack cookies...and your sucker!"
"What part of poop in the toilet, not in your pants, the minute you get off the toilet, do you NOT UNDERSTAND??"---child in the background..."apparently none of it."
"If you think you are so cool, then you cook your own dinner, wash your own swimsuit, and get yourself to library time in an hour...ALL BY YOURSELF...!!"
"Can I PLEASE just wipe without someone yelling, crying or fighting within 2' of me???"
"Why can you guys not SLEEP past 6 am? Do you not see what kind of mood I'm in if I don't get a few minutes to myself each day before you wake up? Tomorrow if you wake up before 6, you better stay in your room, shove a pillow over your head and PRETEND to sleep for all I care..."
"If you guys don't stop fighting...I am going to eat this whole tub of ice cream from stress...then I'll be even grouchier because my clothes won't fit...do you want that? do you? STOP FIGHTING...got it!"
So here's to a weekend at Grandma's for the kids and a stay-cation for me! Praise the Lord!!
And other things I may be caught mumbling under my breath as I am trying to diffuse...
Most kids and parents LOVE summer, and don't get me wrong, I do too...BUT...for 2 kids with special needs, the readjustment period is nightmarish...
Transitions take a lot more time. To go from scheduled, structure, familiar repetition day in and day out...which equates to comfort, calmness, reduced anxiety...
TO...
...NO schedule, NO routine, NO structure, NO familiarity...which equates to chaos, madness, anxiety through the roof, elevated fears, behaviors, and madness...
I am by nature, not an organized, routine person. I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants, kinda gal. So you can see where 2 worlds collide...to be organized, scheduled, and routine drives me mad...and NOT to be, drives 2/3 of my children mad.
I always start out the summer with calendars, day planners, activities scheduled ahead of time..snacks prepared for the day, meals laid out--in an effort to lessen the transition time madness we always incur...but my best intentions only go so far...and I immediately turn into survival mode...
Which turns into just putting out fires...hour by hour.
And before long, I'm burnt out. Literally.
I need a mommy time-out.
I am mommy failing big time around here this week...and feel like all I've been doing is reacting, yelling, and apologizing. On repeat.
Here are a few things you might have overheard me say so far...
"Get out of this van now. GO knock on that door right there and see if they will be your new mommy....go! Give it a try! If you keep saying you want new parents so bad, go find them!!!"
Or how about...
"Blake, Blake....BLAKE...BLAKE....(CLAP CLAP)...*whistle, whistle*....stomp, stomp....AHHHHH!!!" He finally looks at me from 10' feet away like listen here crazy lady....I am NOT a dog...quit flailing around trying to get my attention...this is a great episode of Thomas the Train I need to watch first...
Yelling out the front door, while the kids were sitting in the van waiting on me..."Leah come get your stupid lunch box you left on the floor!" (sure the neighbors were impressed)
"If you don't stop crying now, I'm going to eat your whole pack of snack cookies...and your sucker!"
"What part of poop in the toilet, not in your pants, the minute you get off the toilet, do you NOT UNDERSTAND??"---child in the background..."apparently none of it."
"If you think you are so cool, then you cook your own dinner, wash your own swimsuit, and get yourself to library time in an hour...ALL BY YOURSELF...!!"
"Can I PLEASE just wipe without someone yelling, crying or fighting within 2' of me???"
"Why can you guys not SLEEP past 6 am? Do you not see what kind of mood I'm in if I don't get a few minutes to myself each day before you wake up? Tomorrow if you wake up before 6, you better stay in your room, shove a pillow over your head and PRETEND to sleep for all I care..."
"If you guys don't stop fighting...I am going to eat this whole tub of ice cream from stress...then I'll be even grouchier because my clothes won't fit...do you want that? do you? STOP FIGHTING...got it!"
So here's to a weekend at Grandma's for the kids and a stay-cation for me! Praise the Lord!!
No comments:
Post a Comment