The PERFECT birth control

I have never said my children are perfect. And today was the perfect example.

The morning started off great. Everyone got along. Everyone behaved. Everyone listened. I took the girls to the grocery store and it was great. Everyone was on their best behavior. When we got home, we spent some time outside to play, and then lunch time...everyone ate great and was ready for their rest or nap. I even enjoyed a solid 1.5 hours of quiet time! 

Then...3pm hit. Gotta get the big girls ready for dance class. Problem: two sleeping babes. 

I emptied the dishwasher first and then went upstairs to wake Lilah up. One thing about Lilah...never wake her up and expect her to jump up and be happy. I gently stroked her back and head and said "wake up Lilah...do you want to go to dance class?" She shook her head, but her eyes were still closed. She was still asleep. I picked her up, and brought her downstairs. She said she wanted to put her leotard on, but then.....

All hell broke loose. 

I told her she had to go potty. She freaked out. And I mean freaked out. 

By now, it was late, and we had to go. I wasn't going to let Mairead be late, so I gave Lilah a few more chances to pull herself together, and go potty, but she only got worse. But, she refused to do anything I asked of her. I took her, and put her clothes back on as she was kicking, screaming and hitting me.

I was trying my hardest not to yell or lose my patience, and I have to admit, I lost that battle. It is so hard sometimes when you have to be somewhere, and you have three children to get ready, and one is draining every last bit of patience from me. I hate this part of parenting. I wish I was one of those people who could stay completely calm and just ignore the fact that one of my children is out of control. I am getting better though. I should have it down pat by the time our kids are out of the house!

After I gave up of getting her to go potty or get her leotard on, I was on to trying to put her in the car seat was like trying to put a wild animal back in a cage who didn't want to go. It was not an easy feat. She didn't even have shoes on. 

Poor Mairead kept saying "I'm being good, mamma...I'm being good!" Thankfully for her, she was! And little Clara was looking on in horror and taking notes on how not to act! She just stood stiff watching everything go down. I swear, sometimes kids, even the littles, know when to behave, because they know mamma just can't take anymore crap! 

We drove away. Without a diaper bag. Without snacks for Clara. And a kicking, screaming, shoeless 3 year old strapped into the car seat. I thought, this is going to be a wonderfully fun trip to the dance studio.. 

We arrive to the dance studio. Lilah is continuing to scream. I have Clara in my arms and Lilah refuses to walk. So, I basically am half holding and dragging her into the building, and almost dropping Clara. I get Mairead settled and Lilah is still freaking out. She was out of control and wouldn't even stay still. I take her out to the car and strap her into the stroller. Of course, she tries her hardest to escape while continuing to scream at her loudest decible possible. Of course, everyone was looking on, and thankfully, another mamma shared with me that her son is like this frequently. I told her I am not used to this, as our girls generally have "quick" fits that don't last too long, so this was very new to me (and horrifying!)

Then, my savior walks in. Kevin. He had planned on leaving work early and watching both girls dance today. Unfortunately, he was only able to watch one of the girls. I quickly whisked Lilah away along with Clara and headed home. He offered to take Lilah, but I wanted to finish with Lilah and be there for when she finally decided to settle so we could talk about what happened. So, he stayed, and rightfully so. He deserved to watch Mairead dance, not be with an out of control 3 year old. 

Lilah continued to scream about.

As we walked past the front desk, two girls looked at me like "Wow!" I looked at them, laughed and said...

"THIS is the perfect birth control. Too bad I am already pregnant with number four!" 

When we arrived home, Lilah was continuing to cry and scream, but I ignored her. She kept asking for things, and I kept telling her that when she stops, we will talk. About 15 minutes after we got home, she decided to stop. She came over to me, put her head down on my lap and stopped crying, that's when I knew she was ready to stop acting out. I picked her up, put her on my lap and started to talk to her about what happened. 

She understood, and when I asked her 10 minutes later what happens when you act like that, she said "You can't do big girl things like dance or ski"

Haaaaaaaaaa..... I'm glad she got it because I just do not tolerate behavior like this. It's not acceptable even if you do wake up on the wrong side of the bed. I do feel guilty, she had been looking forward to dance class for a while now, and I hated taking it away from her, but, she has to learn...and there was no way in hell that she could have handled dance class! 

Parenting is tough sometimes. Real tough.