I knew that it was going to be difficult for all of us to get used to getting up early again.  We all had a great time sleeping in over break; quite often the kids were not out of bed until after 8:00, which is pretty astounding.  However, I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when it was time to wake them up at 6:15 am.  Both of them woke up pretty quickly and in relatively good moods.  They seemed excited to get back to their routine of school or daycare.  It was a good start, and I was pleased.

Then came the afternoon.  When I picked Ben up from school he looked exhausted.  He gave me a hug, but then when I asked how his day was he yelled, ”Not good!”  Oh man.  I kind of left him alone on the ride over to Danielle’s to get Emma.  When I came out with her, Ben was just about fit to be tied.  “What took so long?  I’m so hungry and so thirsty!” he yelled.  “Ok”, I said, “I know it’s been a long day, but you can’t talk to us like that.  We’ll get you a snack and some juice when we get home.”  There were other moans, whines, and yelling during the 2 minute drive home, and by the time we got there I was walking on eggshells.  Then he flipped out because I suggested he turn on the TV in the playroom and lay down to relax a little bit.  “I don’t WANT to lay down…I’m NOT tired!”  Wow.  I had definitely underestimated how tough it was really going to be to get back into our routine.  I finally got him pacified enough with a snack and juice and some TV, and I let him pick whatever he wanted for dinner.  I was literally walking on eggshells trying to avoid another blow up.  Thankfully bedtime came pretty quickly and we survived the night.

This afternoon it was pretty much the same thing with Emma, although her tiredness manifested itself in the form of crying.  We stepped into the house and she dripped some juice on a drawing she had done this morning, and she burst into tears.  Then she spilled her Cheerios in the play room and she burst into tears.  Then she asked what we were having for dinner and when I told her she burst into tears.  Geez.  Thankfully with some snuggling and playing she was able to get over it pretty quickly.

Thankfully we all survived and I’m hoping that we’ve seen the worst of it.   Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and they can sleep in again on Saturday.