Reconnect. And Repair.

Some days, things start out rough but end well. Other days start out great, but go down hill with every passing minute. We've all had THAT day (or week). It's the day your children wake up way too early, and have 18 requests before your feet even hit the ground. It's the day you break up a sibling war before you've even had your first sip of coffee. It's the day that all the aches, fatigue, and stress from the past week build up into one unsuspecting moment, and you're staring at a simple request or conflict turned massive meltdown. For everyone. And it's the day I want to be anywhere but here, in this moment, because I can't stop the cycle. And every spoken word oozes frustration, every breath a tired sigh.

And it is this kind of day that I think "maybe I need to change my attitude if I want my child to change his". Maybe I need to force myself to laugh. When getting on the floor for a game of "tackle and tickle" is the last thing I want to do, maybe it's just the thing I need to do. When I really didn't want to play cars, I should have just played cars. Or maybe we both need a release. A total utter emotional breakdown. A good, long, gut-wrenching cry.

Yes. That did it.

He sobbed into my arms in his room. He cried getting ready for bath. He cried during and after. He cried until the tears stopped flowing and his throat was sore. And finally he said "I just had a really bad day". Me too, buddy. But it doesn't have to end on a bad note; we don't have to give up and let the bad day win. We can reconnect. And repair.

Weeks 30 - 44

Time flies when you're having fun and not keeping up with your pictures!

Week 30

Sat., Aug. 11 - Yep, a lovely view of my feet. But if you look past that, and past the sand, you see our boys splashing in the water at Winding Trails.

Week 31

Sun., Aug. 12 - Just before Matthew's swim lesson. He has been taking lessons for about 3 months now and is doing so well. This is the same child who needed his face covered with a washcloth while getting his hair washed.

Week 32

Sun., Aug. 19 - Goofing off at Babcia's house. I can't flip him around like I used to, he's so darn heavy.

Week 33

Fri., Aug. 24 - Vacation in New Hampshire. What a great time we had! My brother, sister, and their families came with us. On this particular day, we all rented a boat and had so much fun! It took Anthony a bit to warm up to it (Matthew as well), but the donut helped. 

Week 34

Thurs., Aug 30 - Dropping Matthew off for his first day of Kindergarten. So bitter-sweet. He was so excited! I was a mess...I did manage to hold it together until he went inside and we turned around to walk home.

Week 35

Tues., Sept. 4 - Between you an me, I have no idea when I actually snapped this. I knew I was behind a week and this was the best I could do without a 3rd party around. I call it "Me and My Shadows"...literally and figuratively.

Week 36

Sun., Sept. 16 - Celebrating Julia's 5th Birthday!

Week 37

Mon., Sept. 17 - Matthew was off from school so we headed to Auer Farm. It felt like we were the only ones there, even the animals were awfully quiet. By the way, Matthew snapped this picture...not too shabby.

Week 38

Thurs., Sept. 27 - I surprised my boy at school and joined him for lunch. The look on his face when he walked in the cafeteria and saw me was priceless!

Week 39

 

Sun., Oct. 7 - A fellow kindergarten mom took this at a birthday party for Matthew's friend Max. He came over to show me his pinata stash.

Week 40

Mon., Oct. 8 - My cousin and I took our troops to Foster Family Farm since everyone was off from school. The kids had so much fun running through the corn maze, playing on the train and playscapes, racing go-carts, and just being together.

Week 41

Thurs., Oct 18 - Movie Night at the Wolcott Children's Forest. We had our blankets and chairs and snuggled up to watch The Lorax. Matthew spent most of the movie hanging out with the big kids up on the hill. (Photo taken by a kindergarten mom.)

Week 42

Mon., Oct. 22 - Vacation on the Cape. We were on our way to hike the White Cedar Swamp Trail, but hopped out of the car to say hello to "Freddy the Horse".

Week 43

Thurs., Oct. 25 - We spent the morning at Chatham Beach, one of our favorite places. The weather was so beautiful, I could have sat on the sand all day. In all my (and our) years of going to the Cape, this was the first time we saw seals!

Week 44

Wed., Oct. 31 - Happy Halloween! Luckily, Hurricane Sandy didn't do much damage in our area so we were able to celebrate Halloween (unlike last year, when we were without power for a couple of weeks due to a freak snowstorm that hit days before Halloween). We went Trick-or-Treating with Aleksandra, our triplet friends, and their cousin.