Sometimes You Just Need to Reset

Sometimes you just need to reset. That’s exactly what me and the kiddos needed yesterday.

Yesterday morning was one for the books.  It’s not unusual for Hallie to have a fit and cry in the morning.  But this morning, it wasn’t just her.  Brother had a meltdown too.  Actually, his meltdown was caused by my meltdown.  Hallie started crying because I took the phone away from her.  Bryson would not listen to me about something really silly looking back on it.  I snapped at him and told him no iPod, iPad, or Xbox that evening.  And that’s when he had his breakdown.  We were already running late.  We were all a mess.  I got to work feeling horrible about leaving the way I did, kind of like unfinished business or that we needed to clear the air.  I decided that afternoon that we would skip church and just focus on us.  It was a smart move.  I think had we went to church the cycle would have continued because we wouldn’t have had time to fix things.  I would have gotten home and had about 30 minutes to get us all ready for church.  We would have left church after 8:00 and gotten home to immediately start baths.  Then, it would be bedtime.  We would have been rushed the same way we were in the morning.  We would not be able to talk much about our day.  We would have not been able to reconcile.

Instead, we dug for treasure.

We ate cookie dough.

We all sat on the coach.  Bryson and I watched Beetlejuice since that’s what he is dressing up as for Halloween.  Hallie watched Peppa Pig on the iPad.  I knew we were all good when I had each kid by one of my sides and Bryson put his arm around me. 

This morning went a whole lot better.  I did try something new with Hallie that I think is going to work really well.  I actually woke her up earlier than usual.  She had time to sit and watch some TV before getting ready.  Normally I wake her up and immediately start getting her ready.  I’m up for any other suggestions on how to make mornings run more smooth.