Too much, too soon??

I am better today--almost back to normal.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that my grandchildren have been whacko since the beginning of the week.  Gramma went back to school; Mommy had interviews; Easter is over; cold weather has them penned in--plus the fact that they are still adjusting to the "new" life.  The end result has been fussing with each other, making mega-messes, and generally being out of sorts.  Ugh!

Today was Meg's first day at her new job.  I picked up the children from their first day at the babysitter's.  Robin started working on me the instant I got them in the car, saying that it was "the baddest day of [her] life."  (How bad can it be at age four??)  She told me that the babysitter yelled at her and spanked her and wouldn't give her a whole peanut butter sandwich.  (All of which were "stories".  She hedged on her spanking/yelling story when I quizzed her further.) 

When I got the kids home, I started dinner, thinking we would all sit down together at the end of the day.  About then, the bottom dropped out of the weather.  I needed to start a Skywarn net, and I wasn't in a position to do it with the children running around like banshees.  I got it started, then had to pass it off to the pros.  (There was tornado damage in our county, and our guys were tracking it.)  I was pretty frazzled trying to do three things at once.

Meg got home later than I thought she would (5:40) and by this time, Robin had already eaten most of her supper...and when my back was turned, the dog got into Ryan's plate (which WAS on the table) before anyone else could get seated. Robin started working on her mother about going to the babysitter's tomorrow...and Meg decided to send the children to Muncie to be with their father for the next four days until she can find a different sitter.

In the meantime, all this week, the house has been systematically destroyed.  A few evening hours isn't enough time to undo what the kids can do in a day.  The dishwasher has to be run EVERY DAY; a couple of loads of laundry have to be done and put away EVERY DAY; picking up has to be done EVERY DAY.  Clearly, we need a routine and schedule!  The children need to know what to expect from us, and we need to expect things of them.  Unfortunately, they are still pretty young to get it.  Meg and I will talkabout all of that.  Teamwork!

The problem with my part of the team is that I am old.  It doesn't seem to matter how much sleep I get overnight; by the end of the school day, I am in need of a nap, however brief.  I'm not sure how to get around that, except to retire...which I cannot financially do, at this time.  How do people manage who have lots of kids????

Anyway, it is bedtime.  I'll look for something to wear to the workplace tomorrow and head to the boudoir.  Nightie-night!