Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Break Down Day

After blogging about whining yesterday, I settled in for a "do nothing day" because I was, frankly, exhausted beyond reason. We've had several late nights this last week, but I've still been getting up to exercise at 6AM each morning (minus the weekend). Then I've got myself a nursing baby who still nurses once a night. So, there you go. Exhaustion. Beyond Reason.

I was feeling rather guilty for sitting on the couch, holding Baby, knitting baby hats for the County Hospital. Well, not for the knitting or the holding --just the sitting. I did the bare minimum interference with the kiddies (i.e. feeding them when they crawled in with hunger pains, ignoring their whining, laughing when they asked if we could go camping right then, etc.). Then I heard the words:

"Mom, #3 has permanent marker and it's on the wall."

WHAT!?!?!?

Chaos ensues. There was crying (me), yelling (me), crying (them), the throwing away of markers (me), the crying over markers (them), the total loss of comprehension and complete freaking out that has long been waiting to erupt. [Luckily and surprisingly, there was no physical contact whatsoever. Since I'm trying to spank less, this was a huge, HUGE moral victory for me.] There was IMing with DH and the vomit of emotional baggage was spewed forth into the Internet airwaves. (Does the Internet have "air"waves?) Worried for my safety, the safety of our marriage, and the safety of the children, DH came home early from work.

He found #3 cleaning off the wall (very badly), discovered it was #1 and #2 who got the markers down in the first place and discovered #2's drawing. There was constant surprise at how many places they had drawn on the inside and outside walls. There was further punishments of "cleaning" and "stay in your room". There was relief when DH found paint in the garage that matched the inside of the house and the outside of the house.

Did I mention this is a rental?

There was long talks with hubby about my breaking point and my exhaustion. There were solutions presented. There was a punishment of "staying in their rooms for the rest of the night" and having only "bread and milk" for dinner --Cinnamon toast, really (cue children cheering loudly). #2 said to DH "Well, I can have water, because when you're in jail, that's what they serve you. Bread and water." Then the stifled laughter coming from her parents.

Fast forward to end of the night. Children sleeping in clean rooms. DH and I enjoying dinner in quiet bliss, a movie, and completing the night with all things romantical and the like. :) My favorite part of the frequent Break Down Days is the end of the Break Down Days.

Break Down Day happens at least 4 times a year for me. Sometimes they are referred to as my Emotional Break Downs. Same thing. Ironically it's around PMS time. Oh, and lack of sleep. Not sure if there's a reason for that...hmmm.... :)

8 comments:

brenbot said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
brenbot said...

i made a typo.

sorry to hear about your break down. if you can make it just 2 more days, you can relax at lopez while aunts, cousins, grandparents, etc. will watch the little ones for you!

p.s. #2 never ceases to amaze me with her hilariousness

Anonymous said...

i am feeling a break down day coming on. the husband left today for five days, i am already exhausted, and my 4yo and 2.5yo are driving me nuts! the 5mo, too, but she can't help it. i caught myself thinking today about how nice it will be to nap when dad gets home from work. oh. wait. he's not coming home. snap.

have you ever seen "what about brian?" probably not, as there's a reason it was cancelled. anyway, there's a character named ivy (played by keri russell's weird goth roommate from "felicity") and once a month, she has "ivy day" where her husband has to do whatever she wants. i'm working up a pitch on this.

Rochelleht said...

I freakin' HATE those days. Thank goodness for wonderful husbands.

flip flop mama said...

Oh so sorry about the walls! That's gotta be rough. I've had a few breakdown days recently so I can totally relate, although I only have one kid so my stress level isn't too big. Hope it doesn't take you long to paint them!

Cheryl said...

I love that most women are just as hormonal as me. Seriously, it's nice to have friends in that area. :)

Cristy said...

OK, you say you have breakdown days only 4 TIMES A YEAR?! I think I have then 4 times A MONTH! (Ironically also around the old p-day) It's like the hormones hit and seriously all things you used to be able to handle just crack! My husband thinks I am the only woman in the world like this. I try to assure him that it is really all woman who need to talk about feelings and stuff.... he doesn't believe me. Maybe he should start blogging.

Scrapbooks by Amanda said...

So sorry that you had a stinky day! I think that most of us have been there. Way to go on not spanking! I am working so hard to cut that out of my life. It is hard! Love Cristy's comments on her husband and how he should blog. I agree! Glad to hear that the day turned around though!