Toy Tantrum

Two posts in one day? I really need to get to work on my house. But I need to rant a little first and get some frustrations out. Frustrations with myself and with my children and an added lesson on grace.

Why is it so hard to clean up toys? I really wish I could understand this. Yes, I don't like cleaning either but I do it. Yes, I am an adult and know that I must. But they know that they must clean as well because I am standing over the top of them telling them to do so. Yet, the minute I walk away to go clean up a mess of my own, the cleaning on their part stops. No reminders, bribes, yelling, threatening, rewarding or anything else has ever worked for me. Especially with Ms. Firecracker. Noisy Man, all I have to do is get out the garbage bag and hang it in a place where he can see it and he is cleaning up so fast you can barely see his feet. Not so with Ms. Firecracker, no amounts of rewarding her when she does clean, spanking her when she doesn't or anything inbetween can get that girl to clean unless I am standing right next to her instructing her every move. Now I realize she is only 2 1/2, but still. . . she knows how to put her toys away. We have a very simple system of 2 huge toy boxes and 5 cubbies. They know where everything goes. And I have to try and get 2 daycare kids to clean up as well. . . a little harder when the toys being threatened are not theirs. It is a nightmare and I lose my cool about it way too often. Am I the only mother who gets so upset by this? It took them 50 minutes to get cleaned up today what usually takes 15. I was so mad I had to go upstairs and cool off for a while, sadly only after I already blew up at them. Then of course it took even longer cuz the minute I left they stopped cleaning. AHHHHHH! Is it that important that the toys get cleaned up anyway? They are just going to get them back out? It is the concept I keep telling myself. They have to learn how to clean up after themselves. But why do I get SO mad about it? Why can't I see the bigger picture when I am boiling over my children not listening? Why can't I be one of those mothers that just pulls them aside and calmly tells them the importance of picking up their toys and then gives them a little pat and puts them back to work? Nope, not me. I yell and threaten and then have to walk away because they aren't listening. OK, so I can do the calm thing most of the time, I don't always scream at my children. I usually am pretty level headed about things. But then there are days like today when I lose it and throw a tantrum of my own at my children for not obeying. Maybe I need to go sit in the corner. I even pray for help in this area every morning during my quiet time because I know that each and every day there will come a point when my children will try my patience and I will need God's grace to deal gracefully with them. God humbled me today and showed me just how much I need His grace as well when I don't listen to Him and His teachings. It is amazing how much your children can teach you.

Thanks for listening and not thinking I am a terrible mother. . . I hope anyway.

Proverbs 31 must have read my blog yesterday. Their post today was Mean Mom, Kind Mom check it out and see what I learned! It was eye opening!