In and out of the Fog.

Wake-up: A bloated more than full bladder me rolls out of bed. I try to use the restroom, yet find it's become a hang-out place for the girls and their toys.

Getting to breakfast: I decide that I was just too foggy to try and get dressed. I keep my pink plaid pj bottoms and Canon Beach sweatshirt on and trek downstairs to let the dogs outside. Halfway down the stairs, my left knee decides it doesn't want to bend. In agony, I continue downstairs in pain, but can't reach the door. I call to Elise to let the dogs outside and limp into our sitting room and sprawl myself out on couch.


Eating breakfast: The pain in my knee manages to subside after five minutes, enough to move and get breakfast on the table. Half-way through, one of my girl's has a tantrum and somehow they both end up in time-out - because at that moment - I'd had enough of their incessant arguing.


1/2 hour blogging turned 1 1/2 hours: After breakfast, I head upstairs to post on my blog. The girl's usually have fun playing during this time, however, after the 3rd argument from them and 3rd redirection - they find themselves in time-out again....


....Inspiration kicks in and I quickly tell them that they need to stop fighting. It worked for 10 minutes, until they both got into it again. This time I make this chart and add one warning to it. They actually ended up loosing the AM TV reward, which they weren't to happy about. I had a pen right by the chart, and they took it and hid it behind an end table.



I made a second chart to help them understand that how they were speaking/yelling wasn't acceptable. The idea behind this chart is to let them know that good words and bad words come out of their mouth, but they need to only use good words and speak softly. During the day I put a star in the box and if they fill it up - they get a treat/reward. The charts are pasted front and back so the positive side is showing - the one where the girl's are rewarded for doing a great job getting along with each other. When needed I will turn it over and mark the warning. The last two boxes are the final straw - for one it's her Superman pants and the other it's her favorite blanket. It's been a big problem - it has to calm down soon - it will only get worse.












After all that, I gave up on posting and headed to the shower to get ready for a trip to Costco before the girl's school.


Seeing through the Fog: I don't know about you, but the morning is a very difficult time for me. When I sleep, my body doesn't relax and I end up waking up sore (it's a long story - but it's the way I am). About 90% of the time, I wake-up feeling like I've been run over by a truck. By 10:30, I still felt stiff and sore, but the girls had calmed down enough to allow me a short shower. When I turned off the water, I heard a beautiful sound - my girls laughing and having fun. It was wonderful!


Getting out the door: When I get ready it's a three person job - me and the girls. It works sometimes, but most of the time it's quite distracting. Today, I at least had time to dry my hair (hallelujah!) and get dressed! By the time a got to make-up, the girls were getting restless. I helped the girls get dressed, put a load of laundry in, and help one of my girls past her melt down. Something having to do with the way her pony-tail looked.


Fog lifted: It took some doing, but we got out the door. The girl's were calm, I was calm and then we opened the front door. There in the mail box was a package. My spirits lifted and Anne's Good Mail had arrived. I pick it up and look inside the mailbox to find Lelly had sent a card. I felt a boost of goodness in my life! The sun was shining, my soreness was dulled, and I had a Costco hot dog w/ diet coke to look forward to!


GOOD MAIL!





Anne - Thank you for your sweet package! I've seen contests on several sites, but never entered until yours! It was really exciting to guess the correct response. Would you like to know how I did it? When I ran a 10K in Utah, I had been running for about eight months but had never done a race before. I entered with my jogging buddy and we helped each other along. My per minute average was 9 minutes 57 seconds. I took that average and added a some seconds onto it for slowing slightly towards the last 3/4 of the race. It worked! Thanks again - great idea! Here's the run down:

The Card - Is such a great idea - really cute! And the lip gloss is already in my purse. These are Anne's essentials for having a great run:

I-tunes -These will help emmensely, check out my Operation: Save my IPod post tomorrow - your gift card will help!

Jelly Belly Sport Beans: Count me in too!

Cherry Blossum lotion: I just love the cherry blossums. We wanted to come while they were in bloom - but who needs to, when you have lotion that smells like this.

Ibprofen - I need as much of this as I can get!

Orbit gum - Agreed - gum is great when running - although, I think I almost choked on it once!

The Ten Mile Run Race Souvenier key chain was really sweet to send. If you ever loose yours - let me know - otherwise, it's on my key chain- What a special momento - thank you! Thank you for the recipe's for one - I'll be an expert on preparing small meals soon. I'll let you know which ones are really the best!

Lelly - I really appreciate the card! The SPT challenge is such a great opportunity to get to know people and to know ourselves. Thank you!

Tomorrow I plan on waking-up with a better attitude and not let the little things get to me. I am far too blessed to let life's small battles get me down.


How do you help/curb the sibling fights?