I'm spending a Friday afternoon at home with the boys. The first in a long time. I've had a busier summer than expected that ended with a two week class in Atlanta, followed by the start of the fall semester. Corrie finally gets a long stretch of time to work on the last chapter of her dissertation.
When it's 100 degrees outside, these afternoons can be very long, especially since Ezra doesn't always nap. Staying inside the house all afternoon gets old, but if we try to go somewhere else, Ezra will fall asleep, taking a late nap which then throws off bedtime.
This afternoon, however, it's been pretty easy. The boys are relatively happy and Ezra's not to cranky (yet!). But I think the biggest difference in this day than others is actually ME. Not me in the sense that I'm a super-parent and able to keep my boys happy, but me in the sense that my attitude or mood is in check. I have a tendency toward crankiness too (shocker! I know), especially when I am tired and lack a lot of good alone time. My crankiness results in impatience and an unwillingness to be understanding or creative when interacting with the boys. I am very conscious of my attitude today, and I am making sure I stay positive. The result is a conflict-free afternoon (so far), and even the boys are in good moods. (I could write a whole other post about how kids' moods reflect our moods.)
Right now, I'm writing this blog post. Ezra is outside playing by himself...oops, I think he just climbed up on top of the lawn mower…
Where was I…oh right. And Isaiah is "recycling" using his recycling truck. I'm sure in a few moments I'll be asked to be bad guy to Isaiah's super-hero, but that's OK. It's easy to be bad buy when you're in a good mood.
1 comment:
"You're a good man, Charlie Brown."
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