Yesterday I spent a portion of the day working on a project in my house. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I finally decided not to put it off any longer. A quick trip to the Home Depot and I was ready to go.
I had to pace myself and keep an eye on the clock because I also needed to make eight dozen chocolate chip cookies to give to Cross Country runners, neighbors and the men coming to a meeting with my Hubby. Ollie helped as my mini baker/chocolate chip stealer.
I also had my favorite phone call of the day to make to our insurance company with whom I am doing battle over whether or not they should cover the $3000 worth of bills for Big C’s baseball to the jaw accident. Don’t even get me started on this one.
Additionally, I was keenly aware that dinner would finally bring all of us together as a family (few and far in between these days) and I wanted to make something yummy for my people. Chicken enchiladas were on the menu. I had a small window in which to serve dinner due to scheduling. I was truly excited to catch up with my kids and Hubby at the same time.
All this to say that for me the day was completely full, but full of good things.
Cue the train wreck.
It started with a disappointing Hubby arrival home. He was ready to race out the door to play volleyball without dinner. Then RedDog translated, “Go tell Ollie it’s time for dinner” to mean, “Go destroy Ollie’s Lego creation so he’ll come upstairs screaming and crying.”
Big C chose the exact moment I sat down at the table to challenge a parenting decision I’d made, turning my dreamy “family dinner” into a People’s Court yelling match of angry teen versus smug parent.
And then I’d had it. I declared that if I didn’t leave the table right then, I was going to erupt into tears. All I’d waited for all day was this one moment where we could be together and it SUCKED. I exiled myself to my bedroom for fifteen minutes in a self imposed timeout. Then I came down and ate luke warm enchiladas.
Some days just aren’t winners. Even though a majority of the day went great, the dinner time situation killed my joy. As I sat in my room steaming and stewing, I kept telling myself to lower my expectations. I was pretty bummed.
I’m so glad I get to go to bed and wake up to try harder and be a better person tomorrow.
PS. I went on an “anger run” last night. Still hated every minute of it. Oh, except for the minute when I was DONE.
9 comments:
On days like the one you have just experienced, I sometimes would go to the library! Sounds so silly. Hardly a threat. Barely got anyone's attention. But, just the same, it felt good to declare "WELL THEN, I AM GOING TO THE LIBRARY. SO THERE," before snatching my car keys and heading out the door in an exasperated state. My rumpled little family likely was happy to see me leave and I always came back in a somewhat more tranquil mood. I admit that fleeing from some of these "situations" wasn't necessarily productive. That said, when one isn't responsible for the uproar, it seems only "fair" to allow the hooligans involved to settle their own score.
May this summer day be filled with quiet, peace, love, tranquility and NO fuss.
Love ya
Linda
sending you hugs. These hard days are horrible sometimes. I wish I had a magic solution, but I don't. I cry and muddle through and hope the next day is better. all my love!!!
Self-imposed time outs. I need to do those more often. And right around crazy dinner time too.
I feel like dinner is when everyone's emotions for the day come to a head. They've been simmering all day and now they're ready to be served to those at the table. If only life were tidy and the emotions would compliment the delicious meal!
I'm glad you could take your anger and turn it into something good: a muscle taming calorie burning workout. Your mind may never like it, but your body is thanking you.
Oh, I've had many a day like that. I loved Linda's solution, the library is always a calming place. Oft times I would just get in the car and go for a ride. Believe it or not I still occasionally have to get out of the house, it's either than or make a complete fool of myself.
I hope you had a better day today. I love ya.
You are a great mom and a great example. Venting is good. Time-outs are necessary. Eight dozen cookies are a lot. Teenagers are simultaneously entertaining and inexplicable.
And angry-running is actually a great way to start. I used to hate it too, until one day a few years ago when I went running to pound my anger out... from there it became something I almost love. Brings me peace sometimes. Sometimes it pounds the tears out too, though, so make sure you run in a wooded glen or something. For me, I ended up face down flat on the sand sobbing last night in the middle of my run along the beach, because I was crying too hard to keep running.
And now I've made your blogpost about running, when it's not. :) Distracted now? Hope so. Love you :).
I love you! This is so true to my days where I have such expectations for that dinner hour and then the people ruin the spirit of it. Usually before the food is on the table. So what you're saying is that this season is longer than I'm wanting to entertain yet ;) Of course there will be good ones too and I should still try, but I do like your timeout. I'll just take my hot plate of food with me! ;)
Time out helps me too. I hope things go better tonight!
Oh, I'm sorry to read about it...
I agree with Apis, probably dinner times is when emotions of the day come to the surface.And I think it's not necessary bad, but it's a problem is when these emotions hurt other around us...
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