Why I Can't Yell at My Kids

A few months ago my dad called me on a Saturday morning and said, "I'm just calling to tell you, 'I hope you get yours.'" Okaayy? He then went on to explain that they were trying to repaint my old bedroom and were having a hard time getting several of the glow in the dark "I love Jake" puffy-like paint symbols off the walls and ceilings. I just laughed, apologized, and wished them good luck.

Of course, I am "getting mine," and I'm all too aware of all those times my parents said something like, "I hope someday you have kids just like you."

Madison has been my wall/curtain/bed/toy writer. She still loves to write. I can't get too mad. . . because never mind the glow paint, I remember being 10ish and writing things on walls or books that said, "Ben wrote this." I know. . .what was I thinking? No one believed it was Ben for a minute.

Ammon has been dumping and squeezing out anything he can get his hands on. TWO bottles of biofreeze (I actually cried). They were up high, too. He just got a chair and it seriously took 3 seconds. But. . . I remember being quite young (4?) and finding a bottle of prescription nose spray at my grandmother's house during nap time. I slowly squeezed it all out and watched with wonder as it arched up and onto the floor. She got pretty mad at me for that.

Two weeks ago Madison and Grant were hiding and chasing each other through the house. Someone hid behind a curtain and it got pulled and the curtain rod got pulled out of the wall. I couldn't get mad. Because I once pulled several feet of wall off when I tried to show my babysitter how to do flips on the closet bar. And then I pulled the bathroom wall down while attempting flips on the handicap bar thing. Yeah. I was that child.

The best (worst) memory is hearing water running and sprinting into the kitchen to find Madison laughing and Grant (also laughing) on a chair with the kitchen sink spray hose and 2 inches of water covering the entire kitchen floor. Thank goodness it was travertine.

The next day Grant found a brand new bottle of spray sunscreen and he and Madison sprayed the entire bottle on each other and the floor (also travertine. . . slippery). I walked in and thought, "oh, something smells nice," and then realized what it was.

So I usually feel upset and we have a talk, but I honestly feel like I have no right to be angry because I know exactly what it's like to feel that wonderment and also that "uh oh"when you realize that something just went differently than you thought it would.

*******************************

BUT lest you think I never yell. . . evenings without Dad have been a beast this week. On Tuesday Madison said to me, "Mom, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm just wondering. . . when did you start yelling at us?" I just laughed and apologized. I'm glad they don't normally think of me as a yeller, and I'm super duper glad they are forgiving and love me even when my patience is gone. Every morning this week we've commented on how happy and nice we are compared to the evening before. Thank goodness for new days.

Also. . . It has started. We were picking up a friend for cub scouts and I was listening to the music from Wicked (for some reason singing it really loud has a calming effect on me). Right before we got to the house Logan asked me if I would "please turn off the music because it was kind of embarrassing." I see many more years of me unknowingly embarrassing my kids in the future.

And. . . I made it to lunch with Logan this week (I have to make up for my cranky evenings). The kids get to choose two friends to sit with them when parents come to lunch. He chose a girl! I actually know the girl because she was in my reading group last year, and she's the sweetest and cutest girl in the entire grade, so I don't blame him, but it was cute. I was a little surprised because he was upset at the beginning of the year because for the past two years they have been competitors for the top of the class and he was a little frustrated because it seemed like she was always a point or two ahead of him. Anyway, no teasing and I didn't make it a big deal, but I did want to make a note about it.