Monday, November 12, 2007

Feeling a Bit Like a Fraud

Seems like I usually talk about all the good things on this blog...fun crafts, beautiful trips, good parenting, funny things the kids say, and so on.

Today I just had an icky day with the kids. Their daycare was closed for Veteran's Day, so they were with me the whole day. Evidently I have lost the ability to entertain/wrangle/stand to be with my kids for that long. That's really embarrassing to admit.

We only got about 1/2 hour of playing outside, they were seemingly especially active/wrestling/jumping off furniture/not listening/screamy/weepy, and except for a few golden moments (we played an impromptu game of Go Naked Fish -- Go Fish, but everybody gets to see the cards because 3 year olds can't hold them up properly! -- a little craft project, and building a gnome village/castle/museum complex out of blocks) the rest of the day was filled with tears, yelling, and overall unhappiness.

I also spent about an hour in their room trying to get them to take a nap, only to find them "waking up" a half hour later. That's the worst for me, getting no down time when we've had a bad day, and them already tired from a very minimal nap yesterday.

And somehow their daycare provider gets them to take naps simply by having them lie down! Grrrr.

So there won't be any pearls of Waldorf wisdom today, nor any NVC methods-in-action. Though I am reminded by something funny I heard said by a presenter at a Waldorf homeschooling conference:

Some days, the best you can say is nobody got hurt!

I guess I can be satisfied with that.


**Edit: After musing on the day a bit, I can see that it wasn't really that bad. True, I didn't model the behavior I'd like for my children, and my needs weren't especially met. But everyone got fed delicious, nutritious meals, I ran a load through the laundry, and I did have some nice play time with the kids. Napoleona even celebrated my birthday by singing and giving me a cloth-wrapped "present." (She does this at least once a week. Today's birthday presents were two sand dollars, some postcards, and a picture drawn on their big DoodlePro.) We also had a silly hairdo moment in the morning, with all three of us adorned with tiny hair clips and pony tails or braids. Sorry, no photos.

7 comments:

Charlotte said...

I can really relate to this post! You have described a bad day chez me. When I'm in the throes of one, I think this is so awful and we're all being hideous and let's just get everyone to bed, but then, like you, I look back and realise it wasn't all bad. Sometimes a bit of distance helps.

Henitsirk said...

Charlotte: It's nice to know I'm not alone in that! This morning was much better, though SillyBilly pitched a little fit when I tried to leave him at daycare.

Sometimes I think parents of young children should have their own versions of the Alcoholics Anonymous slogans:
*One Minute at a Time
*This Too Shall Pass, Once They're Out of the House
*Let Go and Let Them Nap Oh Please Oh Lord :)

Anonymous said...

Feelings are fickle and most of the time,they are not the truth.......they change in proportion to the momentary circumstances........just look at what time did for you as you look back on the day. The children will also look back on the day and see the funny braids and hair clips!!

M said...

It sounds like you did fine! Better than I did anyway. I usually try to follow the Waldorf inhale-exhale rule on days off but I couldn't get him out of the house yesterday.

I finally got him out around 4:00 to bike ride...then I couldn't get him back in! Sigh.

thegoodwitch said...

Yes, you've just described the joys of homeschooling! And to think, I spent four years and over $100K (scholarships, really, but still....) on Conflict mediation and negotiations just so that I, too, can end a day without bloodshed. Aah, motherhood.

Henitsirk said...

Well, today we all tried VERY hard to use our words. There was minimal yelling, only one major crying episode, and some actual sharing and saying please. Of course, the kids were at daycare for 6 of those hours, but I'm still taking what positivity I can get!

Papa Bradstein said...

Oh, are we supposed to be doing something other than making sure nobody gets hurt?

Man, I should read some of those parenting books to figure out what I'm not doing.