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3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House

PARENTING

Home Alone

18 February 2016
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It was a day like every other day.

Except it wasn’t.

Although the title may imply that I left one of my kids home alone to fend off baddies in a comical way, I am proud to say that for 6 consecutive years I have managed to never leave any of them at home by mistake.  Lost one at a market once – I’ll admit to that, but never left them at home. Although, thinking about it, I’m not sure which is worse.

(Side story – We’d gone to this little market in a hall full of tables and trinkets.  For a brief moment I thought Seth had him and he thought I had him.  Instead neither of us had him.  Obviously we panicked and shouted and ran and searched when a little old lady mentioned that she’d seen a little boy go that way.  We found him giggling like a school girl under one of the tables – he was hiding from us thinking it was the funniest thing in the World.  He’s never left my hip since.)

No, no, when I say that we were home alone, I mean that I was alone at home with all of the kids.  Seth had left me to fend for myself while he went on a business trip to JHB.  Not even over night guys, he was back home at 8pm.  I’m being dramatic, I know.

The thing is, I’m alone with the kids every day.  I never show fear because I’m not afraid of them.  I used to be, back when all three of them would need me at the same time ALL the time, but things are easier now.  Being home alone with them is a breeze.  They play, I read, they do home work, I help and make supper, they fight, I ignore them.  Easy peasy.

But somehow having the knowledge that Seth was away on a plane to JHB made me ooze my anxiety.  Basically – they could smell the fear.

It was like someone had reached inside their brains and switched off the rational flip.  OK, let’s be honest here, most kids aren’t too rational at the best of times, but mine are usually easily persuaded to see logic.  Until yesterday of course.  They fought about everything, who took out the game, why they were cheating, who to pack it away, riding over the other ones toes, shouting at me for disciplining them (can you even?!), not eating their supper, eventually eating it with the biggest look of disgust on their face the whole time (don’t you love that, I love that – slaving away over a meal and then getting that look, it’s just so freaking great), not brushing their teeth when I asked, actually, not doing anything when I asked and then to top it right off, they would not go to sleep.

We have a pretty strict routine.  We brush teeth, go to the toilet and then get into bed.  Once they are in, we give them a kiss, hug, high five and low five and then read a story.  After that we all pray and then I play them their songs.  Once the songs are done they are not allowed to talk and I sit there until they fall asleep.  Because Knox is in a different room to the girls, we divide and conquer – Seth does one and I do the other.

I get that people don’t understand why we sit there and wait for them to fall asleep, and honestly sometimes I don’t either.  But it works for our family and that makes it worth it for us.  Bonding and all that.

All of that being said, I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to have your exhausted child fiddling and faffing and not just falling asleep.  I don’t know what it is, but it makes my blood boil.

You ever have the same?  Or are we the only chops that still put the kids to sleep?

In fact my irritation was at an all time high all day.  I was shouty mom the whole afternoon.

The problem with shouty mom, is that their slightly naughty behaviour is suddenly so offensive that you can’t help but flip out about it.  But then instead of behaving, they feed off the burning anger in your soul and keep fueling it.  By the end of the night I’d eaten all the things.  All of them.  The guilt was so high.  I resolved to chat to them about it the next morning and to apologize.

So this morning I chatted to them about the fact that none of them would be earning a sticker for good behaviour yesterday and then added that I didn’t think I’d earned mine either.  They looked at me in shock, so I elaborated, saying that I shouted too much to be a good Mom.  They were the sweetest things though, saying that it was OK for Moms to shout and that I should still get a sticker because I was just helping them to do the right thing and they weren’t listening.

So Moms, we think we’re losing it.  That we’re the absolute worst, but our kids?  They still think that we should get stickers and that is worth feeling chuffed about.

 

Come hang out with me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram where you can find us a whole lot of this – just shorter.
Home Alone was last modified: February 18th, 2016 by 321Blog
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11 comments

Chipped 18 February 2016 at 5:25 PM

Ooooh I remember when Cole hid from us in the mall underneath some clothing rails…I think my heart stopped!

Sweet that they thought you still deserved a sticker!

Reply
Trax 18 February 2016 at 7:40 PM

I like that! 🙂

I think your littles need to have a word with my eldest . Shes ruthless,yo! Im constantly having my stars removed from the imaginary star charts she’s put up for us. Lol! 🙂

Reply
stephanie 18 February 2016 at 7:57 PM

yeah i get that when all u want is for them to go to sleep and the just wont 🙁 driving me bonkers as i need me time, but sweet of them to say y still deserve a sticker then u no u doing it right high five u

Reply
Dawn Clulow 19 February 2016 at 8:39 AM

You deserve 10 stickers sometimes. mwah

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Shana Danae 19 February 2016 at 8:58 AM

Awe! I absolutely loved this! I know all about Shouty Mom! I hate it when I’m her…but it happens! And no, we also put our boys to bed and yes, I sit (sometimes even lay!) with them until they’re asleep! I also feel it’s in that whole bonding category! And please, I make as if I’ve been through World War 3 every Saturday when Hubby works from 8-2!!! He gets home and I’m ready to run to the nearest no kid zone facility for coffee (ah-hem wine!)!

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cat@jugglingact 19 February 2016 at 11:32 AM

How incredibly sweet is that? And yes, I let mine fall asleep on their own. From like day 1. Yes, there has been nights where it did not work and I had to lie down with one of them but mostly it works. But heavens, whatever works for your family works for your family. None of us are the same

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Sharon 19 February 2016 at 12:31 PM

Kids can be so completely adorable and sweet, when they’re not being completely horrid. I love that they still thought you deserved a star, for me, it’s also a sign that they are taking some responsibility for their behavior and the impact it may have.
As for the sleeping thing. No. After story time, everyone gets into their own bed and goes to sleep, if they can’t sleep they can fiddle around in their own beds but I can’t, I just can’t sit with them. They will send my usual impatience into complete overdrive.
Different strokes… 🙂

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Cassey 19 February 2016 at 3:38 PM

K gets a parent sitting with him till he falls asleep. It work for us, and honestly there are days when I need it. It’s a reminder of how cute, and little he is, and how he needs me to do better as a mommy because he deserves it. It’s something that helps fill my love and patience wells.

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Heather 19 February 2016 at 4:32 PM

I also can be a shouty mom but I also apologise.

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Jenna 20 February 2016 at 7:23 AM

Haha. This resonates so well at the moment. I’m “home alone” for a few nights and been trying to get a 1yo and 4yo to go down in the same room. Normally we divide and conquer but 4yo won’t leave my side. Spent 90min waiting for them to fall asleep. There was a fair amount of shoutyness before finally getting into bed too. As much as I love it on one hand it is numbing on the other hand. Parenthood is the biggest oxymoron and love always wins.

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Caley 20 February 2016 at 10:40 AM

Oh sweet friend, I know this feeling all too well! my hubs travels at least twice a month for 3-7 days and it is hectic (granted, I only have two for now!) and an amazing domestic nanny who lives with us but these girls of mine just know when to play up, and always manage to get sick when Dad is away… It is uncanny!!
There are so many days that my star chart would have a black dot on it!!
x

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