Whoops! I Guess it's Been a While...

Geez! Is it really halfway through the month of June ALREADY? This means that our family is pretty much right in the middle of what we like to call "Birthday Season."

Seriously, it seems like every other week we're celebrating at least one birthday, usually more. This week, for instance, is my husband's birthday AND mine. Also his brother. My brother's birthday was last week, as well as that of my mother-in-law. The week before that (end of last month) was my sister's birthday, AND my little niece's birthday! And it just keeps going! (There are several others that I just can't remember right now, but trust me, they're there!) June is apparently a VERY popular month in which to be born. It's nuts! It is also awesome, mainly because I have a very serious weakness for cake.

I really have no excuses for my extended absence. I guess I've just been getting into the swing of this whole summertime thing. It didn't always take so much adjustment time, but now that I've got kids, I have to make some major changes in my daily mindset. It's not a bad thing, it's just different.

Instead of getting up and having 15 different things to do just to get my son out the door to school, now I just have to get up and make sure that the kids get their breakfast, get dressed, and brush their teeth. Instead of worrying about making my son do his homework, I just need to make sure that he gets his room clean, and then ensure that he understands what is curfew is and that he gets home by that time. All the rules have changed.

For me, now I don't have to worry about classes, I'm spending more time doing the things that tend to get neglected during the school semester. I've started a crocheting project. I've also been playing my guitar a lot more often, and have learned a couple of new songs. I won't lie, it's been pretty nice, overall.

However, I have also noticed that my fuse has become shorter than it would normally be.

I'm not really sure why this is the case. I think it might have a lot to do with the fact that my kids have less things to keep them busy during the day, therefore they're spending more time together. This is not always a huge problem, as they typically get along pretty well, but once the fun of the moment is over, they start to get on each other's nerves, and need some space. However, they don't always realize that this is what they need, so they start sniping at each other, sometimes escalating to full-blown yelling before I catch on to what's happening and then I have to be the referee and separate them. This can get pretty frustrating when you're doing it 57 times a day. I'm pretty sure that such a routine would get on anyone's nerves eventually. It's enough to give someone a permanent eye twitch...

Tonight I got so fed up I sent them to their separate rooms until such time as I decided I was ready for them to come back downstairs. (I would have sent them out to play in the backyard, but it was raining...) I took two Tylenol--trying to get rid of a major headache--and made dinner. Once it was done and my headache was finally gone, I was calm enough to bring the chiddlers back downstairs. This didn't take much more than 40 minutes (possibly less, I wasn't really watching the clock), but it made a big difference. Sometimes Mommy needs some space too.

Ack! I'm dozing off. Apparently it's time to put away the laptop and go to bed. Sorry this post was so lame, I'll try to do better next time. :)