We stayed at church a long time last night. Like, until 10:00. Of course we were starving afterward, so we went to Waffle House with our good friends, the Cooks. As anyone knows, when you go somewhere with the Cook Family, they''ll be a lot of talking involved. And last night was no exception. We split up into 3 tables. Men at the counter. Kids at a booth, and us women at the booth behind them. We chatted and chatted while we were waiting on our food. Things were relatively calm, save one flying spoon incident.
It was almost midnight when we finally rolled into our driveway. I know. How irresponsible of us, right? The kids went straight to bed without even brushing their teeth, since we had to be up and ready to go to our new co-op's registration this morning. I was really tired too, but Chris had absolutely no clean work clothes. So I sat up and waited on the washing machine.
I read the Bible and looked over Facebook while I waited. I was just about ready to finally, finally go to sleep when I heard rain. I went out on the front porch and saw that it wasn't rain after all, but wind. Lots and lots of wind blowing tree limbs and leaves everywhere. Plenty of thunder and crazy lightening, too. It was pretty spooky, and the wind was kind of concerning, so I was up until the storm passed. I think it was around 3:00 or 3:30 when I finally decided it was safe enough to sleep. I slept an hour, and then I heard Jordan crying. He had a stomach ache. I brought him into our bed and tried to sleep again, but I absolutely cannot stand to sleep with my children. I've never been a mom who needs her kids with her all night long. I need my space. I need to be able to move around. I just can't sleep peacefully with a child pressed up against my side. So I dozed on and off until Chris left for work. I was finally able to move Jordan over, and then we all slept soundly until 9:00.
We made it to registration and... registered. Ha ha! My mom treated all of us (my brood plus my sister and her kids) to a movie. By the time we left registration we had missed the 1:00 movie, so we decided to do lunch first. After lunch we still had time to kill, so we went to Marshall's. All of us. We were there for a really long time. The kids got some new clothes and we were checking out and... Shaun had a meltdown. Now, I am somewhat used to his meltdowns. He doesn't have them very often anymore, but when he was little, they were a regular thing. 11 year old meltdowns are different from 5 year old meltdowns. 11 year old meltdowns are fueled by pubescent hormones. They involve smart-mouthed remarks, tears, and a lot of self pity. Very embarrassing. And he made me mad. So mad that, after we had gotten outside and out of all the other customers' earshot, I said some things that I regret. Eventually things calmed down. Shaun apologized, and I did too.
We finally made it to the movies. We saw Smurfs. It was actually pretty good. The parts I saw were good, anyway. I made about a million trips to the concession stand for drink and popcorn refills. The worst thing that happened at the theater was my mom knocking a cup of popcorn out of my hand. I can handle that!
On the way home from the movie, the boys were playing their video games. All was well. Then Shaun wanted his game that Jordan was playing. And Jordan had a meltdown. A 5 year old meltdown. Ugh. It wasn't pretty. Eventually he calmed down and we made it back home.
Right now, the boys are having their punishment: they're not getting to go swimming and instead are doing some chores around the house. They've accepted their consequences pretty maturely. Maybe they learned their lesson.
Today's been pretty stressful. The 100+ temperatures in Georgia today aren't helping things. We're tired, we're hot. No wonder we're on edge. I'm calling for an early bedtime.
One more thing. On the way home, I was reminded of how our life was about 6 years ago. Shaun was really out of control and we had no idea what was wrong or what to do about it. Those meltdowns? They happened many times a day. Every single day. We know now that epilepsy mixed with some food sensitivities were causing most of it. Things are so much better now. In fact, I can't remember the last time we had a day like today. I mentioned this to my mom, saying something about how we should praise the Lord for how much progress we've made. I'm not sure she appreciated it right then, but I'm sure she will later. :)
It was almost midnight when we finally rolled into our driveway. I know. How irresponsible of us, right? The kids went straight to bed without even brushing their teeth, since we had to be up and ready to go to our new co-op's registration this morning. I was really tired too, but Chris had absolutely no clean work clothes. So I sat up and waited on the washing machine.
I read the Bible and looked over Facebook while I waited. I was just about ready to finally, finally go to sleep when I heard rain. I went out on the front porch and saw that it wasn't rain after all, but wind. Lots and lots of wind blowing tree limbs and leaves everywhere. Plenty of thunder and crazy lightening, too. It was pretty spooky, and the wind was kind of concerning, so I was up until the storm passed. I think it was around 3:00 or 3:30 when I finally decided it was safe enough to sleep. I slept an hour, and then I heard Jordan crying. He had a stomach ache. I brought him into our bed and tried to sleep again, but I absolutely cannot stand to sleep with my children. I've never been a mom who needs her kids with her all night long. I need my space. I need to be able to move around. I just can't sleep peacefully with a child pressed up against my side. So I dozed on and off until Chris left for work. I was finally able to move Jordan over, and then we all slept soundly until 9:00.
We made it to registration and... registered. Ha ha! My mom treated all of us (my brood plus my sister and her kids) to a movie. By the time we left registration we had missed the 1:00 movie, so we decided to do lunch first. After lunch we still had time to kill, so we went to Marshall's. All of us. We were there for a really long time. The kids got some new clothes and we were checking out and... Shaun had a meltdown. Now, I am somewhat used to his meltdowns. He doesn't have them very often anymore, but when he was little, they were a regular thing. 11 year old meltdowns are different from 5 year old meltdowns. 11 year old meltdowns are fueled by pubescent hormones. They involve smart-mouthed remarks, tears, and a lot of self pity. Very embarrassing. And he made me mad. So mad that, after we had gotten outside and out of all the other customers' earshot, I said some things that I regret. Eventually things calmed down. Shaun apologized, and I did too.
We finally made it to the movies. We saw Smurfs. It was actually pretty good. The parts I saw were good, anyway. I made about a million trips to the concession stand for drink and popcorn refills. The worst thing that happened at the theater was my mom knocking a cup of popcorn out of my hand. I can handle that!
On the way home from the movie, the boys were playing their video games. All was well. Then Shaun wanted his game that Jordan was playing. And Jordan had a meltdown. A 5 year old meltdown. Ugh. It wasn't pretty. Eventually he calmed down and we made it back home.
Right now, the boys are having their punishment: they're not getting to go swimming and instead are doing some chores around the house. They've accepted their consequences pretty maturely. Maybe they learned their lesson.
Today's been pretty stressful. The 100+ temperatures in Georgia today aren't helping things. We're tired, we're hot. No wonder we're on edge. I'm calling for an early bedtime.
One more thing. On the way home, I was reminded of how our life was about 6 years ago. Shaun was really out of control and we had no idea what was wrong or what to do about it. Those meltdowns? They happened many times a day. Every single day. We know now that epilepsy mixed with some food sensitivities were causing most of it. Things are so much better now. In fact, I can't remember the last time we had a day like today. I mentioned this to my mom, saying something about how we should praise the Lord for how much progress we've made. I'm not sure she appreciated it right then, but I'm sure she will later. :)
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