Wiped Out
It’s been a long day. Well, it FEELS like it’s been a long day, but it hasn’t been really. I got to sleep in because the kids did and my husband didn’t have to leave for work early, so it was a relatively late start. I had a great day of activities planned for the kids and we did some amazing things:
- they wrote in their journals
- they built a volcano out of playdough and then I mixed some ingredients together so that it “erupted” (inspired by this post)
Volcano under construction
Volcano erupting
- I tried out a new recipe for lunch and did all the dishes (a Chopped Broccoli Salad from Voracious Vander - delicious!)
- we went for a post-lunch walk and the kids played in the playground on the way there and on the way back
- we did some cool science experiments (Ice Sculptures from The Artful Parent and another colourful experiment with milk and food colouring from the Artful Parent)
Working on the ice sculpture
A completed ice sculpture
- we had a little dance party in the kitchen
- I made a list of gear we needed to buy for our upcoming camping trip this weekend
That’s about the point that the wheels fell off the bus, so to speak. From about 5:30pm onward, my daughter kept picking fights with and teasing her older brother. There was a whole lot of screaming (and not just the kids), some tears were shed, and I was totally losing it. On top of that, I thought that things would be better after supper and I took the kids out shopping for the camping gear. It did not go very well. My daughter did not go to bed well, either. It probably took her an hour after I put her to bed for her to fall asleep (at least, I think she’s asleep now….).
In any case, I didn’t get my strength training in and am kicking myself for not just plunking the kids in front of the TV this morning while I got my workout in. I hate to let the TV “babysit,” but if I happen to find myself in the same situation tomorrow morning (that is, I’m not up and working out before the kids are up), that’s what I’m doing.
That’s my goal tomorrow, by the way – to get my workout in before the day starts.
And I still haven’t posted my meal plan for the week, but hopefully I’ll find a spare corner of time tomorrow and get that up. I like to be able to refer to it online myself, since I seem to lose my meal plan in the paper clutter that’s strewn across my kitchen and dining area.
At least today wasn’t totally terrible. Besides the cool art and science projects, I have been eating quite well lately. It’s really quite a big deal that I managed to deal with my stress today without resorting to eating handfuls of dry cereal or slices of bread to soothe myself. Instead, I gave myself a couple of time outs and just walked away while counting to 10 more than a couple of times.
I’ve got more fun stuff lined up for tomorrow. I’m hoping to head to the zoo and start packing up for camping.
What a hectic day! Sounds fun (for the most part) though. Nice to see that you guys keep your kids busy with interesting activities like these.
You are good at keeping your kids busy with fun things to do!!
Good luck with the camping! We just got back from a great camping trip this past weekend. All of the prep is worth it–kids are meant to be outdoors. We definitely need to go again once before the summer is over.
I hope you did what you had to do this a.m. to get your workout in! And that today ended on a better note. If it’s any consolation, that was more science projects than I do with my kids in a whole year (lucky for them my husband is much better!).
As far as I’m concerned, the Adult Time-Out should be far more heavily documented than it is at this point in time. I think it has been a lifesaver to all of us at one point or another.