My night house... my day house....

At night - alone - whether hubby is home or away - or he and kids just asleep and I'm wandering, trying to get sleepy.... I do reflect on the day. A lifelong writer, I have to replay, record and / or analyze my thoughts - constantly. In grade school, I wrote little books that I would staple or tape together - in high school, I journaled - in college, I drank coffee and smoked cigarettes and talked and talked into the wee hours with my roommates - and.... since those formative years, have written, journaled, blogged, analyzed in person or over the phone, etc. the events of the day, the week, the month, the year. I can type four big paragraphs in like 10 min. - as you know ;-).

So ... last night, I reflected again on trying to be more patient - how to offset the escalating fighting and / or yelling and chaos that sometimes occurs at day's end. Olivia is trying to make plans with friends, asking me for spending money, complaining about not being able to find clothes in the clean laundry and always unable to find something she likes to eat in the house. Enzo and Milo fight - cry because I won't let them play Wii for hours - bake but then eat ALL the cookies - refuse to take showers or baths - and Lil - well Lil is two, and she is very, very TWO, tantrums, high drama and all.

I decided to try to focus on how the other night, after the swim meet, I drove Olivia and her friends (the other two Olivias - pictured earlier :-) around a bit. We joked about how we were going to cruise until 3 am in the minivan, but... really ended up getting waffle fries and depositing them back at a house that had some more interesting friends hanging out until the wee hours. I focused on, too, how one on one, the little ones are quiet and cuddly. Last night, Lil and I snacked and watched TV while the boys were in their room, watching the pre-bedtime movie. Enzo and Lil fell asleep while feisty Milo actually came down the stairs and ended up showing me a late night finger puppet show, singing, then eventually dozing off on the couch next to me. This morning, my early riser, Enzo, is cuddling with me on the big chair, watching Spiderman and eating toast, cuz, see... we always have our morning time when he is fresh and talkative and excited for the day (and one morning, we scored a tv-adapted version of Harold and the Purple Crayon while Enzo stole sips of my milky, sugared coffee).

Good to reflect like this. I feel calm .... listening to the birds sing - albeit while I take the garbage out, intercept email bills and note areas of the kitchen that need to be scrubbed, but...I can do this. I can bring order back to this house - underschedule the kids for even just today, and.... try to relax a bit. This is why I started this blog - to share my day - to hear from others in my situation - and to learn....

Anyway - have you seen both Garnet Hill and Tea Collection this month? GREAT kids fall stuff in both (always good "go tos"). Worth a look. Also, did NOT see Top Chef last night - DVRed it, so.... no spoilers... Here's something fun... I've always liked to do photo self-portraits (funny - interesting to look at later, etc.) - hubby and I have many - I do them with the kids - had many with friends in high school and college (until my Mom and brother boxed up my room in grad school, and I never saw those photos again :-( - and... it seems to be becoming a trend with the ease of the iPhone photos and all, so.... here's one spot with self-portrait tips - though there are MANY others (hello Google). And - did you read the Ramona (by Beverly Cleary) books as a kid? I did. I LOVED them, so... am excited to see Ramona and Beezus, which, I believe, opens this weekend. Lastly, hubby just bought some Marvel comic books for the boys the other day on his way home from a local photo shoot, and... I thought they would not be interested in them, BUT ... they are! And.... superhero violence aside, it seems to have inspired some urges to draw and document some their little character pretend play, which is interesting and... productive / creative, I think. Now and then, I get a "why did (insert female superhero here) kiss Spiderman on the lips?" but.... all in all, a good purchase and ensuing activity (need to mention here - waaay late - that gra[hic novel / comic book artist / author and Clevelander, Harvey Pekar, who visited my alma mater, Ohio U, years ago, recently passed away. RIP.).

Happy day, all.