Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my...

To celebrate our last few days of summer and the nice weather we’ve been having, I decided to take the kids to the zoo today. Little did I know that I didn’t have to go anywhere to be in a zoo J

I should have known it was going to be a wild ride when E decided to bless us with some quality time at 1AM and 5AM. Her 5AM wake up proceded to wake everyone else a bit earlier than normal causing the gremlins to join the family for the day.

I realize that lack of sleep is not good for my children – which is why I am so structured about their schedules – or at least I used to be. I’m beginning to understand that keeping a third kid on a nap schedule is difficult when you are running around with the older children. I’m hoping that with the start of school next week, I will be able to get some sort of structure together for E so she can nap in her crib (as opposed to her carseat, which she’s getting too comfortable with). We've also gotten lazy about what time they go to bed during the summer since they don't have to wake up early anymore (but what we have failed to realize is that they are still waking up at the same time!)

I also know that kids crave structure, which is why I am so mad at myself for not having more structure for our summer break. Especially since J and L have had a very structured routine since they were 3 months old. I had a ‘light bulb’ moment today… realizing that the reason why J has been so grumpy lately is because he has been off his schedule for 6 weeks now. I am hoping that having a new schedule will help turn our house back into a home and not the crazy zoo it has become.

Lessons I learned today:
·       You better be prepared if you’re going to take three kids under four to the zoo by yourself.
·       Having Daddy play outside with the kids when he gets home gives me some nice quite time to cook a proper dinner.
·       I had better figure out a new schedule so that my kids aren’t mistaken for zoo animals.

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