Trying...

Like so many women I know, I try very hard to be a good mom.  But by Sunday evening, sometimes I just feel like screaming!

On Saturday night I let one of James's friends spend the night-- they watched movies and had fun while I popped popcorn, ignored the disastrous slumber party area, and made everyone pancakes when they woke up.  I even remembered to put the eggs in the batter this time!  Score.

Coming up with ideas of things for our family to do, without Chris, that appeals to ALL of the boys, can be very challenging.  I don't want the boys sitting in front of the TV all day long.  But things that would be fun and appropriate to do with a 9-year old (say, going to the movies) just aren't practical with a 3-year old.  Nor would James and Peter have any interest in watching the same movie.  Of course shopping is out.  Walking around the mall is out.  We went out to eat on Friday night and, believe me, that was enough for the entire weekend.  They play with their friends constantly so I usually deem Sunday a "family-only day."  So… coming up with things to do in this town every weekend from 7am until 7pm with three little boys on my own can be hard.

It was very cold and windy here yesterday but I came up with an idea I thought everyone would enjoy.  "Kids!  Put on your sweatshirts and grab your bikes.  We're going up to the middle school track so I can run and you can ride your bikes."

WINNING!  Right?  That's what I thought too.

Except everything was soaked in water and mud…

…which the boys LOVED.

Me?  Less so.

The boys had a blast but all I could think (after I enjoyed their initial squeals of delight) was how much MESS it would be to clean.  And those three muddy bikes had to return home by way of our van.  Yikes.

Only James stayed dry and did a few laps around the track with me.

After the little boys were thoroughly soaked, we drove around to the park at the elementary school.

Even though Pete and Henry were soaking wet from the waist down, the wind was whipping, and the overall outside temperature was maybe 40 degrees, they had a great time.

So what to do after getting completely muddy?  After I made the boys strip their wet clothes off in the garage, it was bath time of course….

Where Peter swore up and down he wasn't splashing.

Hmmm.

So after I cleaned up that mess, it was only 11am.  Yikes again.

I'll spare you the play-by-play but it went something like this:

We brought out EVERY SINGLE TOY we own.  And my partner loves to sit thisclose to me the entire time we're playing.  (I think he was over pictures by this point.)

We put together just about every puzzle in the house, pulled out all of the annoying Play-doh cartons and accoutrements (which, incidentally, leave me feeling like I want to stab myself in the eye.  I would rather suffer that pain than the pain of Play-doh), played Left Right Center (without alcohol, unfortunately), painted and did various arts and crafts, got on ABC Mouse on the computer, and Minecraft on the XBox… 

It was the never-ending day.

And then I happened to see this on Facebook…

And I realized how true it is.  So I did my best to enjoy the never-ending day with my favorite little people.  While folding the never-ending piles of laundry.  :)