Letting the 'man' sleep in his own bed

  We have always had a difficult time getting AJ to bed.  Even as a baby he would get overstimulated and miserable, and just not be able to sleep.  Age, apparently, does not improve this.  I still fight with AJ almost every night to go to bed.

Anyway, as it's been so cold at night lately, and AJ's room has very poor insulation and gets quite cold, we've been making him sleep upstairs in his sister's room.  Fate worse than death for an eight year old boy, I'm sure.  AJ of course, spent every night creeping back down the stairs and having to be taken back to bed repeatedly.  Threats didn't work, taking away his priveleges, no video games, internet, whatever, nothing worked.  The frustration level in the house began to build, again.

 Finally, two nights ago, I got tired of fighting with him, and allowed him to bundle up and go sleep in his own room.  Miracle of all miracles, he went to bed quietly without fighting, and both mornings, got out of bed, also without a fight.  So this morning, I made sure to really praise AJ about how happy I was that he wasn't fighting with me at bedtime, and how nice it was that he got up in the mornings without a temper tantrum as well.  He listened politely and walked away.  A few minutes later, as I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth, in walks AJ and says, "See what happens when you let a man sleep in his own bed?"

I almost choked on toothpaste I was laughing so hard. 

Compromise...

So, it's been a while since I've updated anything, but it's been a busy time for the kids and I.  I've starting dating again 'YIKES!', and the kids have been trying to adjust to their new home and new school district.  I think they like the house just fine, and they've been enjoying exploring around town on their own, but the new school, not so much.

 Jaide put a brave face on and told me all about how she had met several of her old friends there and that she was ok, but then she quit doing all the things she loved, like going to the farm with me on Sunday mornings, or even for the hour or so I go in the evenings.  She didn't even seem to really want to go for her riding lesson on Thursday, either.  Big red flags from a kid who never wanted to leave the barn before.

Then there was AJ, who cried non-stop, and started fighting me on everything.  We fought to go to bed; we fought to get up in the morning.  We fought about going to school, doing homework, getting a bath, just about everything. 

Every single day became a fight, and by the end of the first week of school, I was in tears.  This was just not working.  I couldn't think what to do; all I could see was that my children were so miserably unhappy, and I was the cause by forcing them into a new school.  They could go back and live with their dad, but I didn't want to be a weekend parent.  Finally, out of desperation, I texted a friend, hoping he would understand.  Thankfully, he did, and talked me through to a solution that I thought could work for us.

So, phone calls to Art, and discussion with Art and his new girlfriend, and we've got it all worked out.  The kids will be using Art's address and going back to Greenwood.  From now on, Art and I will share custody of the children.  He will have them a week, and then I will have them a week, so we both get time to ourselves, but we both have plenty of time with the kids, too.

It's not officially started yet; the kids will have one more week in Newport, but after this, they will be back at Greenwood.  I'm really hoping this all works out ok.  The kids already seem happier.  So, everyone, fingers crossed for us, that this turns out to be a good, working solution to the hell that was the first week of school at Newport. 

I don't even know who I am anymore

My son has been having some issues lately with temper tantrums, crying and the like everytime something doesn't go his way.  He's been through a lot lately, and I do understand that life has been rough for the kids especially, but that does not mean that I am going to accept his bad behavior as part of life.

Anyway, this afternoon, he was playing a game on my laptop and got frustrated and slammed it shut.  As a punishment, he is not allowed to play on my laptop at all for a week.  Of course, more crying ensued, but on seeing that I was not going to give in, he went about finding something else to do.

I'm thinking he has decided to just get over it and next week he'd be back to playing with his new one hour a day time limit.  Well, apparently, he did not forget, but just decided to wait a bit to try his next angle.  We were sitting down watching tv together and he asks if no laptop means no games at all?

No, I replied, you can still play the Wii and your DS, but no laptop.

He looked right at me, smiled sadly and said, "I don't even know who I am anymore!"  Then giggled and ran away.

Hahaha, good one, but you're still not getting to play on the laptop.  You'll just have to invent a new AJ.

So, perhaps a new AJ will be forthcoming.  I'll have to keep you all posted on that. 

Looking a little thin?

So, it's Friday night, we've been busy all week trying to get packed up and moved into the new place.  Anyway, I'm frantic by now and have barely had time to think and working on shut-down mode, so I had Jaide make popcorn for bedtime snack.  It's relatively easy and I can hear when the popping slows down and make sure she gets it out in time.  So my son starts begging for his own bag.  My reply is, "No, one bag to share is enough."

"But Mom," he replies," I'm looking a little thin."  As he walks over sucking in his stomach so his ribs all show. 

Haha, fat chance I'll believe that!

And in case any were concerned, here is a recent pic of my little guy, who is obviously not starving!!  hahaha

Is your dad's mom our uncle?

This question from my son.  I think he's a bit confused about relatives!  lol  Let me say first, that my biological father passed away when I was a baby, so my children never had the chance to meet him, hence the reason they are not really sure of the relationship there, although they do know his side of the family as well.

Anyway, I looked at him like 'What?!  I think you need to rephrase that.'  So, on rephrasing he asks "I meant, is your dad our uncle?"

Hahaha.  I know it's Perry County and all, but no dear, my dad was not your uncle.  He would have been your grandpa.

Jaide, on thinking about this for a while, asks, "So is Geno (that's my mom's husband) our grandpa?"

"yes, kind of," I replied

Her answer, "Ewwwww!"

"What's wrong with Geno?"

"He's just Geno!"

Oh boy, do I have to get around to explaining what relatives are who to these two.  I would have been mortified if they'd asked that in public!  lol

Happy Father's Day

While I intend this blog to be mostly about my children, and my life as a newly single mother, but I wanted to take a moment to recognize my children’s father today, since it is Father’s Day. We may be separated and working on moving on with our lives separately, we may not see eye to eye and a lot of things, and I may spend a good bit of time being incredibly angry with him, but he has always been a good dad to our children. So I wanted to take a minute to say: Thanks for being such a good dad to Jaide and AJ. I couldn’t have found a better man to be the father of my children.

Some pics of Art with the kids

Summer fun

Not a whole lot going on today.  The kids were supposed to be with their dad, but he's incredibly sick, so I've got them for this weekend, too.  In response to hearing 'I'm bored' about fifty million times, I hooked up their beach ball sprinkler.  It was great fun for the whole 10 minutes it lasted until the ball broke.  Glad I got some pics before it went.

Jaide enjoying a run in the sprinklers

AJ playing in the sprinklers.  Just love his expressions!  :)