The last few days have been crazy at our house. It has held a lot of crying, whining, stuffy noses, fighting between the boys, and fevers, resulting in not getting very much accomplished for this Mommy! I think I'm the closest to going insane as I've come yet.

Yesterday was particularly bad. I think the only things I got done was starting the dishwasher and making supper. The rest of the day I was holding boys all. day. long. I'm not kidding you. With S. and J. feeling under the weather with fevers and runny noses, and E. wanting to be held just for the comfort, I had my hands full. Whenever one of the boys had a need (i.e. needed their nose wiped, got hungry, needed a diaper change, wanted water, etc.) and I had to put one down on the couch by himself so I could get up, it resulted in crying until I resumed my position. 

My boys are not usually this needy, thank goodness. Don't get me wrong. I love cuddling my boys, and I like being the one they want to be held by when they are sick. But three at once makes for several intense moments! Made me glad we don't have more children yet, to tell you the truth. Although if we have more, I know I'll handle it just fine. But three days of dealing with three needy young boys has been nothing short of mental and physical torture, for all of us. The boys are frustrated with me for putting them down every few minutes, and I'm frustrated at them for needing me every second and crying when I deal with one of their brothers. I'm doing the best I can.

This is all made worse by the fact that I have my quarterly business taxes due at the end of the month, in two short days. It's been on my mind for weeks, but I haven't been able to set aside time to get it done. Each time I get a moment to work on them, I am stopped short within seconds. 

If I had an hour, maybe half an hour, I know they'd be finished and paid for. But that's going to take forever made up by merely seconds. 

I've been trying to get things done by distracting the older two with a movie (like right now) and putting the baby in this bouncy seat, complete with berry finger prints, while I rock it with my foot, but this is what happens:

                                                     Poor guy. Breaks my heart to see him cry.

And on top of it all, we got our first snow yesterday. I can't even let the little boys out to enjoy it with their current state of sickness. Thankfully, they don't seem to want to play outside today. It is pretty though. I know you can't see it very well, but that is a squirrel's nest in a tree outside our living room window, complete with snow. Cool huh?

I'm tired. Tired of it all. Tired of the crying, the constant neediness, the constant touch of a sick/disgruntled child. Tired of sitting in a messy house, unable to do anything about it. Tired of not being able to focus on ANYTHING. Can I just give up?

Yeah, that's preposterous. If I actually gave up, who would care for my children? I know its not an option. Perseverance is the only way to survive this. The ludicrous thing is, one moment I want to snuggle them, and the next moment I want to get away from them. One moment I'm patient with their crying, and the next I want to segregate them in another room so I don't have to hear it. Can you relate?

Being the mom of young children, (may I say several? Does 3 qualify for several? It feels like several. How about three kids, 2 1/2 and under?) has a lot of tense moments. In each situation I am learning better how to handle it for next time. I'd like to be patient, loving, and kind in the hardest moments. It's a lot to strive for, and not easy when I am trying to prepare supper, with baby E. crying in the living room and the older two tugging on my legs while also pulling the hem of my shirt, vying for my attention. The mixture of lots of noise/crying and trying to focus is a recipe for losing my cool. It's in those types of moments when I'm the most likely to react harshly or respond to the crying with a raised tone of voice.

When I was young, I remember my mom taking especially good care of me when I was sick. She'd cool our fevers with the touch of her soft hand, and she'd let us do whatever we wanted on sick days. Usually that meant watching as many movies as we wanted, and of course, no school. Although she wasn't a particularly patient woman on a normal basis, at least when I was sick she was anxious to meet my needs and I felt her love for me. She is an amazing woman who raised 5 kids (all born within 7 years), now responsible adults, who taught me so much. I'd like to take what I learned from my mom (her tender side) but also be patient. I'd like for the tense moments we have, (or tense days, like our current condition) to be handled with joy.

So, I've begun to sing. Singing a fun or silly song that my boys enjoy releases tension for all of us, and helps me get through the difficult moment. I force myself to smile. It doesn't always work. Sometimes my singing only makes the boys more mad that I'm not doing what they want in that moment, but it usually helps me. It reminds me to have a pleasant spirit, even when life is tough. 

And if I feel like responding in a loud or harsh tone of voice, I remind myself to speak nicely. How will my boys learn to not yell and lose their cool when they are frustrated, if I do? 

It is days like these where I become more thankful for the good days we have. The healthy days. Days filled with play and laughter, days where more goes right than goes wrong. I know this time of sickness and grumpiness won't last forever. And even on these hard days, the boys still smile occasionally, which lights up the room and makes my care for them totally worthwhile. And the taxes will get done on time. They always do.

All I can say is, I'm working on myself. And I'm not giving up. At least for today.
 

In the meantime, if you have suggestions to tell me how to handle tense moments with young children, I'd love to hear about it!