I had my weekend all carefully planned out. I wanted to spend some time at home so I could read Twilight get some housework done, catch up on laundry, do a little sewing, and actually relax with my family. I also wanted to take the kids out to Deanna Rose Farmstead to enjoy the cooler weather and let Zach ride the pony now that he is finally old enough.
What I didn’t plan on was Zach being a total pain in the butt all weekend. He had been a little cranky lately but I figured we could work around it. Apparently I was wrong. It should have tipped me off when he wouldn’t settle down at dinner Friday night. It should really have tipped me off when we tried to leave for Deanna Rose Saturday morning and he threw a fit before we even got out of the door. I should have just stopped right then and called the whole trip off. But I had high hopes. I thought maybe once we got there he would cheer up.
Again, I was wrong. He was okay for little spurts here and there but we had several unnecessary meltdowns. I convinced him to try riding the pony, but after a very short trip he was scared and wanted to get off. That was fine. As we made our way back through towards the exit, we let him play on the playground for a bit and then planned to make our way to the petting zoo part before we left. It started sprinkling a bit so we decided we better get a move on but Zach wasn’t ready to stop playing (surprise, surprise!). Commence full-on tantrum. Eventually I picked him up to take him off of the playground and he decided to head butt me right smack on my nose. And then I became the mom who slaps her kid on the playground. Oh yes, that was a glorious moment.
I carried him to the stroller, strapped him in and we walked to the car with him screaming and everybody staring. It was enough to make me not want to take him out in public again until he’s 18. It was enough that I had to go get a LARGE Culver’s Oreo Concrete to eat on the way home even though I decided the day before to lay off the dairy for Evie’s sake. It was either that or large amounts of alcohol so I chose the ice cream.
When we finally got home we both settled down a bit. Evie, Zach, and I all got some much needed nap time in and had a much more enjoyable evening.
Sunday, the day I was supposed to stay home and relax clean, I ended up having to go grocery shopping. Then we went over to my mom’s to help her clean and pack away the pool for another year. We didn’t get home until after 9:30. On the way home, I noticed a huge crack in my windshield that wasn’t there earlier. Zach and Evie both fell asleep in the car so I was hoping to easily transfer them to bed so I could get some things done.
You all know how that worked out, right? I carried Zach in and put him in his bed. Sound asleep. Hubby brought Evie in and as soon as he put her down in her crib she started crying. I tried to grab her quickly before she woke Zach up, but apparently it wasn’t quickly enough. A few minutes later Zach was up telling us he wasn’t tired. It took until nearly 11:00 to get him back to bed.
Once I finally got him down again, I still had to get a load of laundry done, fix bottles for day care, pack a diaper bag, wash my pump parts, and dig out clothes for the kids to wear.
Once again, I woke up on Monday morning feeling more tired than I did on Friday afternoon. It was actually a relief to go to work this morning, even though I got there a good twenty minutes late. Maybe I’ll get my relaxing weekend next weekend.
Even though the weekend didn’t turn out the way I planned, I did at least get this picture that I absolutely love.
You’ve just reminded me why I stopped having kids after two babies. I remember times with my son like you’ve described with Zach.
I think at that age they can’t decide whether they want to be “big boys” or “Mama’s baby”, and it throws them into a tizzy.
Great photos of Caitlin! Brandi’s already on her phone saving them all so she can use them as background images.
Jared