Mea Culpa

When the children came home from the State Fair yesterday afternoon, we waited for their mother to come home before eating Robin's birthday dinner and giving her just one more gift.  I think she had a very nice 6th birthday.  May she have many, many more!

I was tired.  About the time I got supper on the table, I realized how I had been flying around all day, accomplishing little more than some grocery-and-present shopping, preparing the meal, and getting my hair cut.  I did pick up some paint and a dowel rod in order to work on Ryan's closet, but didn't get too far on that.  'Tis ever thus.

Meg and I got sideways over some stupid little thing last evening after dinner, so I decided to go watch TV in my room while reclining on my bed, at 7:30.  I conked out.  I woke up a couple of hours after that--my body obviously deciding that my nap time was over--but it was too late to get up and too early to be asleep for the night!  Thus, I was awake and looking at the clock every hour.  I hate when that happens!

Today, nothing went right.  Ryan was a whiny pill.  (I think he was bored.  My fault.)  He got angry with me when I didn't hear him call me for bathroom assistance because I was talking to his other grandmother on the phone on the patio.  (Although he saw me on the phone and I told him I'd be right in, that was my fault, also.)  The children fought, with Robin as the aggressor most of the time--which is unusual.  (Probably also my fault.)  My fault?  I was actually trying to get things done.  I tried to enlist the children's help, but I was turned down or ignored every stinkin' time.  I ignored my own rule which is, when things aren't working, one has to suspend that effort in an order to bring things back to "more normal".  (Define normal!)  I was told "You're mean!" on so many occasions today, I could write a song about it, if not put it on a t-shirt.  Heh heh...when my daughter was young, I said I was going to have a t-shirt made that said, "Just so we understand each other, EVERYTHING IS ALL MY FAULT."    I've had people scold me for wanting to take the blame for things I didn't do...but they failed to understand my motive.  I figure that if I just say something is my fault, the other party in the argument will have no further fight.  Finger-pointing will stop, and we can move on.  I may still have that t-shirt made!  And I'll have a couple made for Robin and Ryan that say, "It's Grandma's fault".  Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Tomorrow, if things go well, we will be taking a pick-up truck full of stuff to the dump.  Then, if there's time, I will take the children to school with me to take a look at my classroom.  I don't like going in "cold" on Monday but have done it a number of times.  Then, in the evening, the Methodist Church has their annual fish fry.  I'm still trying to figure out what I can have to eat.  Everything is fried! 

I've been kind of "down" all day.  Bad haircut.  Nothing done.  Harried, with children.  I'll survive.