brain dump

Tonight Maya argued with me for 45 minutes rather than just unload the dishwasher. Yesterday she argued for 45 minutes with her sister over who's turn it was to unload the dishwasher.

She is willful and defiant. She burns through my patience and pushes my tolerance level to the limit. If she can push me past that, if she can get me to lose my cool even slightly, she crumbles. She sobs. I am so mean. I am the meanest Mom ever. It's a never ending walk across a tightrope. Or so it seems. So it feels some days.

I'm not feeling great. I have a persistent dry cough that isn't ready to let me shake it. The quality of my sleep is far from optimal. I should have listened to ML and done what she told me to when she told me to. I'd probably be feeling a lot better by now.

I'm in the midst of planning two separate fundraisers. Well, helping to... part of the team. I love putting all the pieces together for a successful event. Meeting tomorrow night, vanilla coffee buttercream and chocolate cake to keep the planning committee happy.

There are barbies and Disney light up toys in my bed. Colouring books and markers on my bedside table. My book shoved to the side, out of the way, my page lost. The remote is buried somewhere in the sheets.

Tonight Abby discovered Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie on her bookshelf. I could tell she wanted to read it, but was intimidated by it's size. She had it tucked into bed with her, but insisted she wasn't that interested. I turned to the first page and had her read the first sentence. She breezed through it. I am loving watching her learn to fall in love with books.

They're all in bed. The house is quiet. TV off. Finishing up my tea and hoping Mike is good and asleep by the time I do so I can read a page or two before attempting to sleep myself.