Table Time Out

Today was one of those days . . . where the boys were bouncing off the walls and one another, where my patience and sanity were hanging in the balance.

The day started about 6 a.m., when our early riser woke up his twin brother, and the two of them proceeded to wake up their big brother. They were all downstairs and bouncing off the walls before 7 a.m. It was an earplug kind of morning just to stay in bed until 8 a.m.

The little guys had one last day of school before the holiday, and I had made some tentative plans with some friends (a classmate of Connor's and his mother) to come over to the house while the little guys were at school. I didn't tell Connor, because I didn't want him to be disappointed (and mopey) if plans changed. But it all worked out. The boys spent a few hours playing, and I spent a few hours enjoying some adult conversation for a change. It was a nice break for everyone, I think.

And then the afternoon came. The one after waking up at 6 a.m. Tired, cranky and unpleaseable little boys were still bouncing off the walls and testing limits. Let's just say that I haven't screamed that much in a long, long time.

Sawyer, poor thing, cannot stand to have mismatched toys in the toy box. His solution is to simply chuck the unmatched toys over his shoulder until our living room looks like a natural disaster area. I can't tell you how many times I picked up all those toys and put them back in the general area of the toy box before finally giving up and putting them all in the pantry. No toys left. I literally could not stand one more thing bouncing across the floor. And "No!" doesn't exactly cut it with him, not when it comes to his need for order. Especially not when I needed to be doing things like laundry and the dishes, and I couldn't stand over him every second of the day.

That was one.

Then comes my mischievous partners in crime. Connor and Xander are quite the little pair lately, with one leading and the other following, usually in a bad direction. Today's adventure was first jumping from the chair and ottoman to the couch, until it inevitably ends in a child missing said couch and screaming. After being reprimanded for that, it quickly turned into a game of let's see from how high up on the steps we can jump down to the floor. Six steps up was the breaking point. More screaming ensues.

That was two.

And then came the whining. The "Juice?" every five seconds from Xander, the opening of the refrigerator every 10 seconds by Sawyer (his equivalent of the same request) and the "I'm hungry!" from Connor, who choose not to eat his lunch and go back to playing with his little friend. They had recently had juice and snacks. It wasn't even four o'clock yet, several hours from our usual dinner time.

So we had a little table time. Strapped down and a novel toy (meaning one we don't get out of the pantry very often). It lasted about 30 minutes before it all broke down again. Playdough is apparently not that novel. So then I fed them dinner. And watched as they once again started jumping off the front steps.

And that was it.

Time outs ensued, followed pretty quickly by marches upstairs to brush their teeth and go to bed.

At 6:30 p.m.

Josh and I had dinner, in complete peace, for the first time in I don't know how long. Xander was asleep within minutes, Sawyer not so much. He was just bouncing off the walls in his room instead of the ones downstairs. Connor had reading privileges as long as he stayed in his room and was quiet.

And then I did something I rarely do. I took a time out, just for me. I decided to catch a late movie, all by myself. New Moon was calling. I put on my "nice" clothes, meaning my favorite jeans and sweater and boots, and took myself to the movies. Two blissful hours of quiet. Time to escape and recharge. To get ready for the next couple of days that include no school, holidays that are not always easy or fun with our three boys, and a lot of traveling.

Now, let's hope I can make it through one more day at home with three restless boys and no school!

What Bed?

Beds are overrated, apparently. Unless I lay down with Sawyer until he falls asleep (which I didn't, because I worked tonight), this is inevitably where we find him. He laughs and dances across his room until he eventually falls asleep. Usually in a corner on the floor.

At first, I thought it was just where the bed was located in his room. This is the room that's directly over our garage, and it used to get really cold this time of year despite the extra insulation we put in during construction. Right after we moved in, we had our good cousin, who just happens to be our electrician, wire in a wall heater to help keep this room warm. It cycles on and off, blowing warm air out just a few feet from where Sawyer's bed is located. Given his sensory issues, I thought that might be the problem.

This week, I moved the bed back to this corner on the opposite wall away from the heater (where Connor's bed used to be when this was his room). Not the problem, clearly. He just likes the floor. And tight spaces, too. Silly boy.

No Alarm Clock Needed

Every morning at our house we are awakened by three little boys. The two little guys are still trapped in their rooms, because one of them likes to get up at an ungodly hour (usually around 6 a.m.) and the other one is notorious for playing with our computer downstairs (as in turning the printer on and off repeatedly, for hours at a time if given the chance). They're not trustworthy just yet.

Connor, on the other hand, has earned the right to get himself up. He can go to the bathroom on his own, can get his own milk (if we fill it up and leave it in the refrigerator the night before), and can amuse himself pretty quietly until we're ready to wake up. He even knows to lock his bedroom door behind him to keep his brothers from destroying (okay, just seriously messing up) his room. He also has "big boy" items that brothers are not allowed to play with unsupervised, like pencils and crayons and safety scissors. So he knows to lock the door.

The bad news is that lately he's felt the need to "free" his younger brothers when he gets up. So they come noisily down the hall, often play with our locked bedroom door knob trying to come in and bounce on our bed, and are, in general, needy. They still need help going potty, getting out of their overnight pull-ups and into big boy underwear, and getting milk. They also require the television to be on if we're going to try to sleep any longer, and none of the boys have remote privileges just yet.

Yesterday, Connor let his brothers up. And for some reason he forgot to lock his door, or at the very least, pull it closed. He then proceeded to let his little brothers pull a fast one on him. He found himself on the outside of his locked bedroom door, with both brothers inside, happily bouncing on his bed and making a mess out of his room - without him! Books were all out of the bookcase and all over the floor. His desk had drawers pulled out and things everywhere, and he was miserably outside the door.

So Daddy and I woke up to his saying, quite loudly and firmly, "Xander! Xander! Xander, please unlock my door! Please, Xander!"

Yeah, that wasn't happening. So he just kept shouting at them, even if he was trying to be polite about it, until finally I got up to get them all downstairs and started on their day, safely locking Connor's door behind us as we left.

No alarm clocks needed at our house these days, let me tell you.

Snapshot Sunday

Don't ask me what he's doing. All I know is that he needed help to get himself out of the position he suddenly found himself in. He was "resting" (aka, waiting for Mommy to catch up with the twins in the stroller) and it somehow turned into this. Breaking in the new helmet, perhaps?

Two Good Things

Connor had a major dilemma today. Two good things were happening, but at the exact same time. It's Saturday, which usually means that Mommy is working at her part-time job and Daddy is in class. Grammy and Pappy were scheduled to come over to watch the boys, which Connor always loves.

But last night, Aunt Kelly called to check out Connor's schedule for the day. She wanted to take him out for an afternoon of fun. He liked that, too.

So last night, as he's going to bed, we were going over the things he had done that day and what he was going to get to do today. He told me he was going to get to see Grammy and Pappy, and that Aunt Kelly was coming over to pick him up in her new Hummer (he's all about cars these days, and Aunt Kelly does have a fun new ride)!

And then his face kind of fell. I asked what was wrong. And this is what he told me . . .

"But if Aunt Kelly come get me, how are Grammy and Pappy gonna play with me?"

Two good things, and he didn't want to miss either one of them. And then he suddenly smiled and added, "They stay for a long time, play with Connor after I get back home."