*Sigh*

Okay.

Confession time.

Forgive me all Happy Moms,

For I have sinned.

I don't always accomplish all my goals.

In fact, today is my worst day in a long time.

My kitchen counter is full of craft supplies.

My dining table is covered in flower clippies and hair bows.

My living room is strewn with toys, baby wipes, clothes, and a vacuum I have yet to use today.

The beds are not made.

The childrens' rooms are messy.

I haven't started dinner yet and it's 6:00 in the evening.

My current fashion statement is an old T-shirt and a pair of my husbands basketball shorts.

Now, as head of The Happy Moms Club,

Am I happy?

In spite of all my failures today?

The answer ladies,

is

YES.

I haven't relaxed this much in months!

I guess we all need a day every once in a while

to just

CHILL.

And now, if you'll excuse me

I have nothing to get to!

Late Nights

Okay, I admit it! I CANNOT WAIT for bedtime each night. My kids go down around 9 or 9:30 most evenings, but sometimes that isn't soon enough for me. Some days I find myself watching the clock and counting down the hours. As the day progresses, and the hours get later and later, I seem to lose more and more of my patience. Why is it that kids are the lucky ones who get to posess so much energy? If I could steal just 1% of that energy each day, I sometimes think I could be super-mom! On the days where I have little or no energy left, my poor children get put to bed an hour or even an hour and a half early. This probably is not the best strategy. I should probably figure out a creative way for them to release some of their energy instead of putting them to bed as soon as I start to lose to temper. But, for now, I'm once again counting down the hours. 3 hours and 51 minutes.....

Old Yeller

As much as we'd all like to be the perfect mother, we all have our moments when we're not at our best. Being the mother of 3 very young children, I totally get it. Today, my 3 year old daughter fell down and scraped her knee while playing outside. She started yelling and screaming at her younger sister that it was all her fault that she fell and got hurt; despite the fact that they were clear across the yard from each other. And my reaction? Instead of cuddling my little girl, kissing her knee, and telling her it would be alright, I started yelling at her to stop yelling at her sister. Hmmmm, ooops.
Remember how actions speak louder than words, Karyn?
Oh yeah.

Then, 10 or 15 minutes later, the younger girl, who is only 18 months old, snuck out of our yard into the neighbor's yard; something all my kids know is a big "no-no!"
Once again, my reaction was not as it should have been.
Since I was inside nursing my 2 month old baby boy, and was unable to run outside after her, I screamed as loud as i could from my kitchen that she had better get her little tush back in our yard now!

How often do I react this way? It doesn't matter really....it's just too much. How can I be a happy mom if I can't control my anger more appropriately? My own personal goal is to stop yelling completely. I had a 5th grade teacher once who did nothing but yell, yell, yell all the time. The end result? We all hated her, and gave her little respect. You're all probably better than me in this area. But, that's why it is the confession page!

~Karyn