My girls are exhausted. I know this based on their actions.
Yesterday morning, we had a plan. We were going to get up early, surprise a friend, and then they go to dance and I to work. I got them up plenty early. All they had to do was the same thing they do every day....breakfast make lunch get ready and lets go.
I did the countdown; 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes......LET'S GO!!! Now we are in hurry mode, I have seconds to get everything done before I leave for work.
The girls get in the car (like they are ready), and say, "We don't have lunch....."
I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned around to them in the car and said, "HOW do you expect to get through your day from 9-4 with NO FOOD??????? They said, "I don't know...we didn't have TIME to make lunch."
Now, I'm upset!
We go through this ever day. It's not like it's a new routine. And because I have to work, I myself have to get ready, and I don't have time to watch their every move.
So as I'm sitting in the car, I have to make a decision; for them to eat, or my friend to get her birthday donut. (If it wasn't until 4pm, I would have let them learn their lesson. But as I know they will have a grueling routing all day - thus the word "intensive", I had to err on the side of feeding my children).
I send them BACK in the house to make a lunch. Now they are crying and hysterical because they wanted to deliver the birthday donut. Unfortunately, it did not happen.
My anger got the best of me. As I drove them to Grandma's house (who was going to deliver them to dance for me), I explained to them (in a VERY strong voice) how disappointed I was. It's not like I change the routine every day. They need to help by getting themselves ready. Making their lunch is part of their chores. They know how to do it. After the first day of their intensive workshop, they both came home starved, and I went INTO DETAIL about the importance of the right kinds of foods to help them have energy for dance. They are comPLETELY aware of making their own lunches.
So by the time we got to Grandma's house, they were in tears, and I needed botox to get rid of the frown wrinkles.
I could tell right away that grandma did not approve. Neither girl had their shoes (which was her FIRST question), and both girls didn't hesitate to play it up for Grandma. Their hysterics got even worse, which only aggravated me more! (this is my mother in law...not my mother). As I did not have time to go into detail with Grandma, I delivered the kids with a brief explanation and left. And as I left, I knew this was not the last of it.........and I was right.
By mid morning, I had FIVE texts from my husband. His mother called him to issue her concerns about how tired the girls are. My husband was so upset, he told me they would not continue with the intensive; they would take the last day off.
This is where we differ.
I called him and told him that pulling the kids from their obligation is NOT an option, and I didn't really care if their feet were bleeding, they would finish. I'm pretty sure he knew this was coming from me, because he didn't argue at all.
His perspective is a bit different than mine. He is upset and wants it done. I am willing to deal with the upset, because it's a lesson
The rest of the day, I went back and forth in my mind. I was so frustrated with what I felt was judgement.
I finally called my mom, to give her the story of what happened. I was totally frustrated and she could here it in my voice. She knows my kids, she knows my husband, she knows my mother in law and she knows how angry I was. And she did exactly what I expected her to do when I conveyed the story to her.
She laughed.........
I felt better.
Happy Friday!
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