Friday, January 06, 2012

The great Air Show and how it happened

Sir O is a sucker for all things crafty.  Scissors and glue are his best friends.  If only I could supply a never-ending stream of prepared crafts then I might just be able to keep him out of trouble.  Unfortunately I have two other children and a house to take care of, and there is a conspicuous lack of a prep-period in parenting (at least in my reality.)  And so there is always trouble.

But when we do manage to satisfy his creative urge the results can be quite glorious.  And so yesterday, in between bouts of manic whining and flopping, I helped Sir O make some birds from a template in a library book.  He proceeded to decide they were kites rather than parts of a mobile, and kites require wind, and so in a flash every fan in the house was parked at the bottom of the stairs.

Sir O - his "airshow"

 An audience was "rounded up" and thus began a fancy schmancy "air show" that consisted of watching Sir O attempt to fly his "kites" in the "wind."  As a show it was, um, floppy.  But as a self-initiated bout of imaginative play I'm calling it a great success.  We just won't venture into the battle of wills that was trying to get him to return all the fans to their respective homes, or the battle that was his brothers wanting to play with the audience rather than watch the show.

Battles aside, it was actually one of the better moments we've had at our house lately.  Something about the post-holidays blues has turned my kids into little hellions lately.  Something as small as having trouble turning a page, tripping up stairs, or having finished the last of their snack sends them into loopy hysterics.  They fight over everything and have forgotten how to communicate in non-whiney tones of voice.   I keep digging deeper in my patience bucket, thinking that sometime they'll have to equalize and return to a more normal state, but my bucket is looking pretty empty these days.


"audience" for Sir O's "airshow"

They are clearly over-tired, but putting them to bed earlier has only resulted in them waking up earlier and actually being more tired than before.   We've purged the house of Christmas candy, and I'm trying to circumvent boredom and minimize screen time.  Still they are exceptionally difficult.   This is when I read and reread this post over and over again.

AND when I repeat the mantra, "I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids"  and "These are small problems, these are good problems to have."   Over and over and over.

What gets you through the rough spells?  I can't be the first mother to endure this craziness.

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