What a week I'm having....and it's only Wednesday

I'm sure you have had one of those weeks.....one where from one day to the next, it just keeps getting worse.  You think to yourself, tomorrow just HAS to be better, but then it's not.  Well, my week is shaping up the same way.  My troubles started last Thursday and we're still cruising along with a quick momentum into "Badsville". 

 I have a certain teenager who decided on Sunday to have a negative attitude and claim that he really didn't want to have to put too much effort into things because he "didn't feel like it."  So, as a result, Beau took good care of that attitude and, viola, my house became clean at the hand of that teenager.  Although the result was pleasing to me, the events that led up to that were not.  Now, I will say that this was an unusual behavior for Zander, so I am hoping this was a temporary moment of teenagerism. 

We are in the process of packing, painting, and getting things ready for a garage sale.  Beau is working late almost every single night.  As a result, my house looks like a tornado has come through.  For a girl that likes things neat and tidy and for a certain 5 year old boy who needs things to be consistent and orderly, this is causing serious havoc on our senses.  Oliver is excited about moving and has finally seen the inside of our new house to be, however, the change and the disruption to our normal lives is creating an atmosphere that he is not comfortable in.  His frustration is brewing, his patience is ceasing, and his anger is erupting.  In an effort to include him, I asked for him to decorate all the boxes as I pack them.  That entertained him for a moment, but no longer has the effect I was looking for.  At school, he has been unable to control his outbursts.  The littlest of setbacks causes him great discomfort.  As a result, we have had some very tension filled drop offs and pick ups at school over the last week.  I mean, kicking, screaming, thrashing, crying moments (not all of them from me :) )  His sensory issues have become heightened and so yesterday, he decided that he WOULD NOT wear his snow pants to play outside during recess.  So the teachers, indulging him, allowed him to go outside, but only on the pavement.  He was fine with that, but played in the puddles instead.  Picture this.....wet pants, 30 degree weather, small breeze.....he was frozen.  Oliver proceeded to get into my vehicle (because recess is the last thing they do at the end of the day before parents pick up their children), strip down to his underwear, and get into his car seat.  All of this while screaming, shivering, shaking the car, and melting down.  As bad as this sounds, the morning was even worse when it was time to drop him off at school.  That meltdown was all over a hat.  Completely ludicrous...but apparently very important to Oliver.  Sunday, at church, he had a complete meltdown during service because I handed him a purple crayon instead of a green one.  That incident led to us leaving during the middle of service.  Typically I have much mercy and compassion for his sensory issues, his need for things to be a certain way, his desire to fixate on things, but this past week has been difficult to embrace his "behaviors".  The ironic point to all of this is that the main purpose we are moving to Hollis is so that we can keep Oliver in the same school so that he won't have any interruption as he enters Kindergarten. 

My youngest child is currently going through a clothing fetish.  He has found great pleasure in changing his clothes multiple times during the day, only to place his previous clothes in the dirty clothes hamper.  My laundry is piling up exponentially.  Carter has also developed a very talented habit of beat boxing.  It was cute the first 100 times, but now, I find it generally annoying.  It's hard to concentrate or to have a conversation on the phone as Carter dances by making these unusual sounds from his mouth and shaking his booty.  But, at least he is happy!!!

But last night was the clencher.  We were out late, which is highly abnormal for our family on a school night.  Beau worked late, and then we went out to dinner.  He just knew that I had a bad day and was mentally and physically drained.  So he offered to take us to dinner, even though that's against our current budget.  He's good like that.  Dinner went surprisingly well and the kids were very well behaved.  Afterwards, I slipped into the grocery store to get a few staples.  On the way home, Carter fell asleep.  I woke him up, because goodness knows, I can't lift HIS dead weight.  He was clearly groggy and disoriented.  I told him to put his shoes up and as I was carrying in groceries, I heard the one thing that all parents never want to hear.  William said, "Ooooh, yuck."  I looked at William's face, saw his nose scrunched up in disgust and his lips forming a shape of disbelief.  I immediately found the source of Will's disgust.  Carter had proceeded to pull out his shoe drawer in the bench and pee in it.  He though he was at the toilet.  The only appropriate response I had at this time was to laugh hysterically.  You know the kind of laugh I am talking about.  One where I had become insanely outdone, worn out, hit a wall, overwhelmed, and flat out tired.  The kind of laugh of surrender and the kind of laugh that allowed me to get out all of the previous days' frustration.  It was quite cleansing.  The harder I laughed, the harder Will just stared at me.  He was expecting me to jump in immediately and correct the situation as I normally would.  But I couldn't.  I found humor in this because I had been too stressed for too long. 

I sincerely hope today is a better day.