You guys, it got ugly today. I was at my absolute motherly worst.
I mean, I never claim to be perfect. I’m far from it and I know it. I freely admit that I lose my cool more often than I like, I make up random rules and choose to die on those hills “just because,” and can be completely inconsistent in my discipline.
But, Week Six of summer combined with a stubborn seven year-old almost took me out today. I yelled at my son like I’ve never yelled at anyone for any reason in my entire life. I was in tears by the end.
In fact, the mother-kid meltdown was so intense today that I had to call my husband to try and gain some perspective. He ended up coming home from work to help resolve the situation because I knew I needed to walk away. It was literally a “wait until your father comes home” moment.
This boy brings me both joy and angst. I volley between wanting to hug him and send him to his room for 20 years. Mostly, I pray my guts out for him (and for me). Please join the cause.
There are lots of contributing factors to today’s situation. Certainly both my me and my son have some personal and collective issues to work through. But, I also blame Week Six.
Week Six in our home means camps are mostly wrapped up, vacations are over and we’re in the monotonous, lazy days of summer. The routine is nearly the same every day and my kids are over it. The pool we visit every day is old news and my kids claim boredom. Bedtimes have pushed later and later and because I would still like a couple of quiet, uninterrupted hours in the evening, my bedtime is later, too. This results in all of us being overtired, cranky and ready to blow at any moment. The fuses are short and it takes very little to ignite them.
Week Six of summer also finds me ineffectively handling the “desk work” of life. The school year affords me lots of moments throughout the week. Bills get paid. Emails returned. Dates are transferred into my schedule on a semi-timely basis (usually at least in time for the event itself!).
But, all sense of organization is out the window in the summer. When the weather is nice, it’s too depressing spending a day at my computer. So, I push it off until the next day waiting for the inevitable rainy day to get everything done.
But, unfortunately for our poor cornfields (and my credit score), we haven’t had many of those this summer and so the bill paying gets delayed. I’ve been trying to coordinate get togethers all summer, but for the life of me can’t find the time or the brain power to sit down with my calendar and sort through dates to find an open one.
This leads me to feeling even more disorganized and chaotic.
The disasters around my house don’t help either. (Again, rainy day projects!) I’ve had a list all summer of organizational projects I’d like to tackle when I get a break in the weathers: clean my bedroom, organize this closet, purge the basement. The list sits on my counter mocking me.
I suppose if I cared enough, I would just tackle the projects. But, it always seems a shame to waste a sunny day.
So, here it is. My Week Six summary: losing my crap with my kids, overdue bills and ineffective calendar management, and home projects desperate for a rainy day.
How are you faring during summer’s Week Six?