First week back to work.

We're nearing the end of Chris's first week back to work, and mine as well. The most I can say at this point is that we will all survive it. Probably.

Chris's new schedule has him getting home every night at bedtime. After dinner, baths, jammies, and nightly meltdowns.

Declan has always had a hard time with changes and transitions, and so I fully expected his behavior to tank this week, and he did not disappoint. It has been a week full of his throwing tantrums, refusing to eat, making messes when my back is turned, bothering (tormenting?) Eleanor, etc, etc, etc.

Eleanor decided she was done with diapers last week, but she apparently did not decide that she wants to use the potty as well. After potty training Declan fairly easily by going cold-turkey with diapers, I thought that's what we'd do with Eleanor as well. This is the third round of cold-turkey potty training we've attempted with her since last fall. You win, baby girl.

Miles has Roseola this week, and has been clingier and fussier than usual, and he has not been sleeping well at all.

I'm pretty sure the kids all had a meeting on Sunday night, and decided they'd plan something special for Chris's first week back: Disaster Week!

However, I read Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic earlier this week, and it couldn't have come at a better time. You can read my Goodreads review here, and if you're the parent of young kids (especially several young kids), I can't recommend it highly enough. I've been employing many of the techniques in the book for handling the kids, as well as the techniques for handling myself, this week (except for one incident when I may or may not have slammed the front door out of sheer rage--ahem).

I think this passage might have been written just for me this week:
"Don't think that the endless trips off to the bathroom with a toddler or two in tow are just a waste of time and energy--it is a gift that you are giving to your children. They will need these life skills! You are repeating these things for them just like a teacher circling missed math problems with a red pen. They will get it eventually, they just need lots and lots of repetition."

And maybe this one too:
"After having the twins, I had to deal with how easy it was to get overwhelmed. I can remember telling my husband that I was going to try not to say that anymore, not even to myself. It was time for me to adjust to the work load that God had given me. But deciding to be the kid who would dive in and not the kid who would stand around anticipating the work and getting overwhelmed has some real consequences. You have to know that you are giving up those moments that you were allowing yourself. Deciding not to say it is different than never actually being in over your head. But God loves a cheerful worker. I am still frequently in over my head. Actually, most of the time! But deciding to not wallow in that fact has removed one of the biggest obstacles to my work--my own calculations of how hard the job is."

So to summarize the week: tantrums, poop, a door covered in honey, pee in my shoe, fifty pounds of sand dumped in the grass, one trip to the library, one trip to the park, more poop, more pee, a tickle fest in the beanbag chair, and early bedtimes all around. The work is hard, the job is big, but the little people are worth it. Good night.