The Summer Break Struggle Is Real!

I’m going to be honest…summer break is hard! It’s not that I don’t love my kids because I do. I would do anything for them. Just like any other mom, I would lay my life down for them. But I know that I can’t be the only one who struggles each summer break. The kids are constantly arguing. I mean why should they have to share that one toy they both happen to want to play with? In their minds I should have bought two of the same toy so they could play together and not share. Sorry kids but you better go find another toy out of the MILLIONS that we have in this house. Oh, and for two small little girls, they sure do eat a freaking TON during summer.

I have always been a strong believer that it takes a special person to be a teacher. Summer break just reinforces that thought for me. I only have two little girls (ages 3 and 5) and they drive me crazy. I couldn’t imagine a class of 18 little ones! What’s even crazier is over here in Belgium they start their kids in school at two and half years old. That means teachers who choose to teach these small toddlers. Whatever their pay is, I am almost positive it should be more. 😉

Now, some of you might be thinking “what’s so bad” having the kids home for summer. It’s not horrible but to give you an example, let me go through my day so far today:

4:45 am – Kids wake up. (Umm nope, go back to bed please!)

5 am – My husband gives the kids something to drink and tells them to go back to sleep. (They shockingly listen.)

8 am – The kids wake up for the day. (Okay, fine I will get up too.)

We go through the morning routine of going to the bathroom, getting breakfast, drink some water, brush teeth, etc. Once that is all done the kids like to play in their room where most of their toys are.

10 am – I hear a loud noise and my oldest comes into my room (I’m trying to read my daily devotion) and she’s crying telling me that her sister smacked her in the face. It’s clearly true since she has a big red mark on her face.

Once timeout, I’m sorry and all that fun stuff is taken care of then they start to play together nicely. That lasts around 5 minutes before more refereeing is needed. I finally decide to have them clean their room so we can head downstairs. (It took a good 20 minutes for them to get a small amount cleaned up.)

11:15 am – We head downstairs where they start to play with their dry erase easel. Of course that lead to arguing about not having room to draw in which case I drew a line down the middle and split the space for them.

Shockingly, they played nicely through lunchtime. Once lunch was over I waited until the “I’m hungry” comment was made and I decided that since I couldn’t send them outside (it’s been pouring rain all day) that I would make popcorn and let them lay on the floor and watch a movie. Too bad our Apple TV decided not to work today and my husband took the DVD player to work for an event.

3:30 pm – I finally figure out how to use my husband’s Xbox so the kids could watch a movie and have “rest time”.

4:30 pm – I was finally able to get my youngest to lay in her bed for a nap and my oldest is hanging out with me downstairs.

Now, that may not seem like a bad day, and honestly it’s not. But you also need to add in the constant cleaning of the house, making of food and breaking up fights between the kids and you might start to understand why I struggle through the summer. By the time that my husband gets home from work I am spent. I’m tired of hearing the arguing and I would love to not pick up another shoe or clean another dish for the next 3 months.

I am by no means complaining about being a stay at home mom. I am incredibly grateful to my husband for working so hard which allows me to be home with the kids. My girls are a blessing and I totally understand that. I am beyond grateful that they are healthy, lively and smart kids. I am working very hard to remember that always and to stay Present Over Perfect. (Great book! Buy it and read it now!) Fact of the matter is though, I am not perfect and after all day of arguments and whining, it’s a serious struggle to stay positive and in a good mood. I’m working on it though!