Not one of my more stellar nights

…as a parent, that is.  This morning started out not so hot, as Cole ignored my request to go and walk Archie.  I reciprocated by not making his lunch (thereby subjecting him to the b-b-q rib sandwich at school which may contain pork and other mystery ingredients and I knew he wouldn’t like).  When he decided to scrape the ice off the driveway instead of getting his backpack and getting into the car, I made him walk down to the person’s house with who I carpool.  Yes, that’s right, he walked into the house and I closed the garage door and drove off, leaving him to find his own way down to Mark & Lynn’s house.

Tonight was going better, until it was time to take a shower.  Cole was again ignoring my request that it was time to get into the shower, because he was writing a note to his dad not to dismantle his lego creation.  I finally started counting….and Lainie paid attention, but Cole did not.  At 5, I told Cole he’d have to go to bed with no books.  He started crying and saying “I was just trying to write Dad a note!” to which I told him he could have done that after his shower.  So, he gets into the shower and turns it to scalding.  Lainie gets into the shower with him (they’re still young enough that when we’re in a rush, they shower together) and starts screaming, literally screaming, that the water was too hot.  I hear Cole mutter:  “what, Lainie, I’m blocking most of it” in this totally “so what” voice.  I go in and take a look at him:  his skin is beet red.  So, I got mad because I knew he was being a jerk to his sister because he likes the water scalding and doesn’t care about her.  I made him turn the water off.  He had shampoo in his hair.  He’s all like “what?” and I proceeded to poke him very hard in the arm and tell him with clenched teeth “IF YOUR SISTER IS SCREAMING THAT THE WATER IS TOO HOT YOU HAVE TO TURN IT DOWN!!!” (or something like that).  I told him to get out.  “But I have shampoo in my hair!”  “Fine, rinse it off.”  He turns the water on and proceeds to run his hand under the water trying to get it to super hot again and I lost it and told him to “TURN ON THE WATER AND GET RINSED AND GET OUT OF THE SHOWER!” (again, with clenched teeth)  to which he got upset with.  Mind you, when he got into the shower he was “muttering” about how unfair I was being because he was just trying to write a note to dad, blah blah blah (loud enough for everyone to hear him).  So, he disappeared out to the living room and I got Lainie’s shower finished and I made both kids go to bed with no books.  I think both of them were okay when they went to bed but I did not go in and tuck them in.

So, all in all, not one of my more stellar nights as a parent.  I hate it when things blow up like that, but I get so sick and tired of it, too.  I work all day – and then my evenings are spent cooking, doing homework, getting the kids to bed and reading them books.  By the time they’re in bed  it’s usually 9:30 p.m. and then I need to do my “15 minutes” of housework to make the cleaning nazi happy.

Oh well.  Buck up, little camper!  Mama said there’d be days like this.

I took some new stitch markers pictures and edited them.  Here’s a preview:

A mixed bouquet.

I love these vintage czech bottle beads!  They look just like trees.

Flowers, a common theme of mine.

More millefiori markers.  These would be great for a blanket since there are so many.  I plan to sell these cheap, because I have so many of the millefiori beads.

This is a new color combo for me…and I’m liking them!

These swirly ones remind me of a Monet painting.  The “different” marker is made with a furnace bead (love those) and 2 czech beads.

I realized when I started taking pictures of these that one of the markers had chipped, so now it’s just a set of 6 instead of 7.  Boo hiss.

Another new color combination for me.  Oh, how I love these markers!  So lightweight and pretty – perfect for socks or lace.

Yes, I edited 83 pictures.  Still practicing at the macro mode.  The next couple of days will be spent listing these in the etsy shop.

Blargh!  Let’s hope for a better morning and more patience tomorrow.