I'm not as hostile as I look. I swear!

I am one of those people who never likes any photo of themselves. I am guaranteed to find a dozen things that make me look like a troll. Obviously, it's the pictures that are terrible and not me!

This photo from Christmas morning is no exception, but it does crack me up. I look like I'm about to use that lamp as a weapon against the photographer, who happens to be my husband. ("I ask for a kitten, and this is what you get me?" - Angela Peeler, in the Sitting Room, with the Lamp) I am also a little frightened by my eyebrows. Do they look that narrow in real life?!? Nah, must be the picture... If you look out the window, it appears that we opened our presents in the middle of the night. That's totally not true though. It was at least 4 a.m. when the first child came into our room!

I had another Mommy Meltdown this afternoon. I deal with disrespect and argument on a regular basis. My children are young (and related to me), so I expect this. Most of the time, it doesn't really get to me. It's annoying, sometimes amusing, but I have hope that these people will someday turn into well-functioning members of society. And maybe they'll even begin to treat me with gratitude and respect. Like, when they're 60. Anyway, with Lila contradicting every sentence that came out of my mouth and Eli talking over us and making demands like some pampered prince... I totally blew my cool. There was yelling. There was apologizing (me, not them). There was a concerted effort to make it through the rest of the day without yelling (again, me, not them). I think we'll all survive.

If they stop trying to tell me what to do.

I was even a softie with Eli this morning. I let him skip his last swim class because there was going to be a substitute teacher and he was pretty anxious about it. I am usually rather firm with the "If we pay for it, then you will go" rule, but I didn't want to force it this time. He hated swim class in the summer. And then he liked it and proclaimed that he wanted to keep taking classes in the fall, so we signed him up. Then he hated it. Then he loved it. Most recently, he's hating it again. He doesn't like to put his face in the water because it makes his eyes sting. But he also doesn't like to wear goggles because they are "too tight". If you loosen the goggles until he is comfortable, then water starts leaking in and stinging his eyes and we're right back where we started. [shakes head and rubs temples]

Recently, he and Lila both decided they'd rather do gymnastics again, so we're wrapping up swim (Eli - this week) and violin (Lila - end of the month). In February, they'll be back to taking simultaneous gymnastics classes and I'll have a guaranteed 45 minutes per week with no whining. Sounds good to me!