Days I Live For

Some days my two toddlers test me to the point of insanity. I think they are conspiring to put me in a padded room somewhere wearing a straight jacket. Yesterday was one of those days. Every 5 minutes it was something. Sarah refused to pick up toys. I threatened everything shy of shipping that girl off to boarding school in Switzerland. Then, she wouldn't share. Then, she got awfully sassy with me when I tried to talk reasonably with her about sharing. Then, she hit her sister, and lied about it. Who taught the 3-year-old how to lie? Human nature kicking in, I guess. Rylee was into everything...climbing onto the kitchen table included. Then, she disappeared with the telephone...which I found 3 hours later in the oven of the toy kitchen. Then, she hit Sarah in the head with a ceramic coaster, and cried like she was dying when I scolded her. They didn't like each other yesterday, and they liked me even less, it seemed. My only reprieve was when Rylee took a nap, and Sarah sat quietly watching The Aristocats for a little while. I was in tears by 3:00 wondering where I had gone wrong. Did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and my bad mood rubbed off on them? Was it too harsh for me to yell that if the toys didn't get put back in the toy box, I was going to give them away to a little girl who knew how to obey her Mommy? To which Sarah replied, "What is the little girl's name? Is it Lylah?" She totally missed the point. Had I been sassy and hateful with Sarah which, in turn, caused her to be sassy and hateful with me? She had to hear it from somewhere, right?
Then came Prince Daddy. Riding in on his white Ford pick-up. "It's beautiful outside." he says, "Take them out." I tell you, he is a genius sometimes. So, I did just that.
Instantly, a horrible morning turned into a wonderful afternoon, complete with flower picking, swinging, and playing a made-up game that Sarah named "Seek-tag". It's a cross between, you guessed it, Tag and Hide-and-Seek. You hide...but she has to know where you're hiding. Then she "finds" you and screams "TAG, YOU"RE IT!!" Then you chase her around and tag her. She hides, always in the same spot, behind the slide. And, the game goes on and on forever, or until I pass out on the grass. It was absolute bliss! We spent close to 3 hours in the back yard, and by the time we came back inside I had almost forgotten the stress of the first half of the day. They were my sweet girls again. Stinky with sweat, starving, and delightfully exhausted. Dinner, baths, story time, and bedtime went off without a hitch. And, as I sat on the sofa with a tall glass of Diet Mt. Dew, watching the Duggars, I thought, What a fun day! I want to do that again tomorrow. Ah, What a life!