I'm a MAN! I just can't do it!

This new mother kicked some major booty yesterday! Day one was a smashing success!!!!! I was busy folding laundry and cleaning up the living room after the kids were all asleep, and my husband looked at me in wonder and awe (ok, maybe not so much, but a little hyperbole never hurt anyone!) and said this: "I'm a MAN! I just can't do it!" (Meaning, he could not bend down to pick up one toy or book and HAD to hit the sack.)

I do have to give my man a little credit, however, for he puts up with 29 5th graders each day, and I think by the end of the day his exhaustion is just as real as mine. I don't tell him that, it might go to his head, but he really does so much for me and for our family. I'm so lucky to have him!

Anyway, back to day ONE. As I mentioned, it was great! The bigs got home from school, where the mother finally had a snack ready. They ate. They were happy. The bigs played with the littles. Daddy cooked my prepped dinner while I gave another piano lesson, we ate (well, most of us ate), then Family Night with my confession of failing as a mother and vowing to do better. I encouraged all the family to be their best selves, and for about 2 minutes, the actually listened! My best self is not being like Sarah or Suzie; it's being ME! I find myself so often looking at other mommy blogs and seeing perfect houses with perfect decor, tons of homemade crafts and scrapbooks, little projects for the kids, a constantly organized pantry, a clean toy room, etc., etc., and it gets me down. I cannot be them, for I am not. Neither are YOU, dear reader! So my advice today, is to be the best YOU. It really really works! My good friend has a quote on her blog that I LOVE. Here it is!

"You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you!"

Isn't that so simply wonderful?!

After our little Family Night lesson, we watched Old Yeller, which we had just finished reading as a family and had the aforementioned scones for dessert.

We stopped the movie with 10 minutes remaining, the kids brushed their teeth and did their business in a record amount of time, finished the movie, said our prayers and went to bed. Seriously? An AWESOME day! (If you haven't read Old Yeller to your kids, do it!)

This morning, the bigs were ready to leave for school at 8 a.m. with daddy (they go to the school where he teaches), and I'm happy, no, ECSTATIC to report that they still loved their mother when they left for school!

Did I do anything "big" to deserve this change? No! I just changed a few little things, it didn't cost me a penny or much time, but it worked! Now Little L is upstairs quietly playing on a road I created on the kitchen floor out of painter's tape (I saw the idea here http://buggieandjellybean.blogspot.com/2011/10/thinking-outside-kitchen-floor.html, but mine is much more simple, and so is my kitchen!) and Little M is playing quietly in the toy room. Sure, I let them watch too much TV this morning, but I got the rare shower out of it, and an extra 20 minutes of TV really isn't going to hurt so much in the long run, especially with a mother in the house!

***DISCLAIMER***

I fully realize these 2 days were not perfect, but they were BETTER! And I know it may all fall apart at any second, but for now, it's working and I'm happy to share that with you!