Monday, May 19, 2008

Guilt

I don't want to be a mom today. I am fed up with it all right now. I love my kids, I love being a mom 99% of the time. Today is one of those 1% days. Luke, Caitlin and Jonathan have done nothing but ignore, disobey and disrespect today. I asked Caitlin to take two toys into the middle room and put them away and she stared at me and then said she didn't want to. I asked her 2 more times to do it and she walked away. She was sent to her room for that. Luke threw an absolute fit about getting ear drops, refused to pick up anything and ignored what I said. Johnny was the same. Last night Gabe was up at least once an hour, no exageration, screaming. So when I would finally get Jonathan or Luke (both of whom did not sleep well) calmed down and almost asleep, Gabe would get them riled up again. I haven't had decent sleep for weeks, I am feeling like I am failing at this mom thing, and I am angry at my kids. I feel so much guilt for the anger and that makes me feel even worse. This afternoon I had to go to the bank - just through the drive through. It should have been so easy, you'd think. They threw fits getting into the van, Luke refused to get into his seat and buckle up, Jonathan wouldn't sit, Caitlin didn't like where she was sitting, they yelled the whole way there....... I am so ready to give up right now. What am I doing wrong???? Right now they are all in their rooms. I gave myself a time out because I knew at least I would listen. They are playing without arguing right now, thank God for small blessings! Gabe comes home in a half hour. If today goes like every other schoolday, he will come home and be automatically mad at me for something. I swear if I breathe too loud he gets mad at me. I don't know what to do to make things better. I was at the store and saw Father's Day cards this morning and that made me start crying. I don't think I have gone long without tears today. Tonight is Pool Girl's night out and I don't get to go because of the kids and I can't ever find a babysitter. That makes me feel angry too. Then that makes me guilty. I am stuck in this never ending cycle. I could really use a night out! At least tomorrow is therapy and it looks as if I will have plenty to talk about! :) Maybe I will just print out this post and take it in.

Thanks for listening - actually reading. I hope that you all have a good day.

5 comments:

Cheryl said...

You poor girl, we have all been there but we don't have triplets. I don't know how I would handle 3 of Ryan. Oh my!! I would be insane, honestly. I don't know how you do it. Ryan talks back all the time and drives me nuts. I have no idea what to do about it, I ground him, I take things away, I even smack his mouth and there are still days when he just won't stop. I know it doesn't help to know we all have been there but at least you know you aren't alone. There is no reason to feel guilty. We all need time to our selves, some peace and quiet and when you never get it, it is hard. I can only imagine having 4 kids to try and make happy or even get a babysitter for. I feel for you. But know that every mom has her breaking point or days when we just can't take it. You need a nice long time out. There are some days that the only thing that gets me through is a long bath with my book. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!

Crystal said...

I agree with Cheryl, you definitely are not alone girlfriend. We have all reached our limit at one time or another as mom's. Everyone has bad days.

With having that many kids to keep control of, you may want to write on a big piece of poster board, all of your family rules.

NO back talk
no hitting
no spitting
ect.

and then sit them down and tell them when they break one of these rules, there will be immediate consequences and tell them what they are and dedicate the next few days or week or how ever long it takes to keep following thru with this.

I am talking out of experience. There was a time when Daws was 3 that he was completely out of control and I did this and had an immediate consequence for each wrong doing and after one two days, his behavior turned completely around. I think we moms and we all do it sometimes, tend to let some behaviors get by without consequence because we are just too tired and overwhelmed to deal with it and then it becomes an even bigger problem. Trust me, you are not alone on this at all!!!

Cheryl said...

my mom left you a comment on her blog.

Unknown said...

A brownie is waiting at my house just for you!! I make kids sit in a kitchen chair and watch the stove timer tick down either 4 or 2 minutes depanding , Andrew gets buckled into his booster seat for his time. You must be quiet or I reset the timer for the original amount and then we go over what caused you to have to sit and what a better choice would be. But it has taken a while to get this to work...and it only works most of the time.

Jamie said...

There's no need to feel guilty. All Mom's have bad moments, days, weeks, whatever. We're all humans with lots of flaws, no one is perfect, so don't try to be. Just keep doing the best you can and keep your head up!! Hopefully today will be a better day!