Takin' it day by day

So after my whiny post last week, I got my butt off the couch and started making some plans. I mean, you can't meet anyone if you aren't getting out and if I can conveniently use my child as an excuse to get together with other mothers then so be it. We actually had 2 play dates, one ice cream event and also a Mother's Night out with the mom's group I joined. Who knew there were nice people out there? I didn't (well, I had an idea but, boy in our neighborhood, they are hard to find). It's helps to have a little social interaction - just enough to make me happy and still talk to people about things I have no clue about. Did you know that toddlers have to be potty trained? Yes, it's true. Here I thought one day they just figured it out. I know I did. ;) How do you potty train a toddler? Yes, I'm learning how. TG for our daycare admin because I certainly wouldn't know anything. LOL

Anyhow, I'm feeling better. M is probably stressed more than ever. He's planning for a trip home for a nice break with friends and family but since we are putting our house up for sale in April (hopefully) he also has a lot of little jobs that have been waiting for his attention. Our downstairs bathroom, now finished. All the little odds and ends, completed. Gosh, it feels good and I didn't even do it. It just took a deadline and a lot of pressure for him but he's marching through it. He leaves in 2 weeks - we have a lot to do before then.

The past weekend I got to feel like how it feels for people who shake/abuse/abandon their children (I'm sure some search is going to come up and CPS will be on my doorstep in a moment). I would never do that physical damage but I can clearly see how someone could be at the end of their rope, desperate for some kind of divine intervention but not receiving it. I don't know what happened... sometimes we just have bad days... my patience was thin... her need to test it was great, I guess. Specifically at one point we were in the car, M driving and E was calling "Mama" from the backseat. I usually answer her, thinking more is coming, and it does not. I say "yes" she says "mama" again. After the 20th time, I stop answering (no one said I was quick). Then she moves on to asking for a cracker. "well honey, I don't have any crackers in the car today". She asks again, I answer again. Her whiny voice asks again and I don't know how many times this is but I told you I didn't have an f-ing cracker stop f-ing asking me for one! Of course, I didn't put it like this but my raised voice and my stink eye implied this. She was quiet for about a millisecond and then "cracker" was heard from the back seat. Needless to say, it moved downhill from there and once home, eventually earned her some "time alone" in her bedroom. Sometimes... Sometimes, I don't think I'm cut out for this.

And then, the cutest smile, the cheesiest grin, the hug. Sucker for punishment, I am. How do people cope with more than one?