#bedtime and #bedtimesucks

Those were the hashtags I used last night as I live tweeted our bedtime battle.  We all got kinda relaxed over the summer - the kids are older (10 and 8) and we let them stay up later.  It got out of control when we went to the beach.  Since returning (early August) Katy hasn't fallen asleep in her bed OR stayed in her bed for the whole night.  Once school started, I would BEG her to come in my bed so we could all get to sleep.  Let's face it, 8 year olds need more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep. (And I couldn't fight her at bedtime for hours and hours each night.)

Fast forward to Saturday.  DH came and sat in my office and I ended up venting my spleen on him. I just let it all go.  (It has been building up for quite a while.)  He acknowledged that we had some real issues that needed to be addressed.  So we planned out a family meeting. (I'll have to blog that separately. It was.... interesting.)

So the plan developed at the family meeting was this:
8:00 Showers
8:30 Nightly reading
9:00 Lights out, I sit in the hall in my comfy chair while the kids fall asleep

We moved the chair, my laptop was charged, and I downloaded some e-books just in case. And I commenced to tweet some of my hardest parenting moments to date. (I'll lead off with a few tweets from Saturday and earlier Sunday to set the mood...)



The tweets tell the tale.  We were at it for 3 hours (after the final tweet, DH and I swapped one last time - after I password locked Katy's computer. I had taken some Tylenol PM and don't remember much.)  Unbelievable! 

Thankfully, I had some great friends on Twitter sending support from all over the place - @LiberalGranola, @3catsandababy, and @CarelessCampers were wonderful. Knowing that there are other parents out there, going through similar stuff at one time or another really helped me stay strong.

I'm hoping tonight will be ever-so-much better - after all, can it really get worse?

No, wait! Don't answer that!


(You can follow the action for the next few nights by following the #bedtimesucks hashtag. It doesn't appear to be used often and really suits the situation.)

First Day of School (a month late)

The girls' first day of school was August 25th.  Here are the pictures I took that day. (Better late than never!)

Katy, first day of 3rd grade

Erin, first day of 5th grade

Coping. Or Not.

How do you cope with feeling like a failure? It has been hitting me hard lately. I just don't think I'm doing what needs to be done for my 8 year old, Katy. I'm missing something. She's so much like me, that might be part of it. She has this need to fight me on every. little. thing. Bedtime has always been an issue with her - since she was just a little squirt she's fought and argued and whined and complained. For years we sat with her.  Then we were able to move to sitting in the next room. Then, finally, she seemed to be over it. We had several years of pretty decent bedtimes - still a few problems here and there, but never for more than a few nights at a time.

Recently she's been terrible, horrible, no good, very bad. And I feel so guilty for saying that. But it is the worst it has EVER been. And I just can't handle it. Sometimes I just want to run screaming from the house, instead of deal with her. 5 nights a week it is just me @ bedtime.  DH works evenings - but often (even on school nights) she's still up when he comes home.  And on school days she's getting up at 6 - I just don't know how she can be awake for almost 18 hours a day.  And on nights when DH IS home - those are the worst.  No matter how calm I try to stay, he's got some comment about how I get her worked up and how I shouldn't worry about it and how I should just leave her be.  That eventually she'll get tired and go to bed earlier.

I've tried tiring her out (YMCA to swim/exercise.) Just made her more of a monster (even more over-tired.)

I've tried taking away important things (computer, Internet, TV, DS, fun family stuff.) She just cries and whines more.

I've tried (to my shame) spankings. Then she cries about her butt hurting.

I've tried the opposite - sweetness and light, loving, calm. I've even sat with her, laid with her - kept her company so she won't be "lonely." (One of her current favorite excuses for why she can't go to bed.)

I've tried music. She just waits until the cd has played through to come downstairs. (False hope, anyone?)

But she still doesn't go to bed without a fight. (Correction, she will go MAYBE once a week without a fight - no way to predict which night, so I can't ever bank on tonight being THE ONE.  Until it is and it is over.)

I'm trying so hard. All I could do tonight was lock myself in the bathroom and cry. She just stood in the hall and asked if I was crying and WHY was I so upset.

I don't know how to cope with this. But I've got to find a way. How can I not cope with this wonderful, spirited, brilliant, little girl? I love her so.

End of Summer Highlights

This has been quite a summer! We've kept busy and the girls didn't mangle each other too badly.  However, EVERYONE has been grumpy the last few days.  So much so that I'm more than ready to be back at school!  I'm tired of doing things for everyone and tired of negotiating everyone's battles.  The girls are on each others' last nerve.  Annoying things aside, we've had a great summer.  Here are some recent highlights:

 Lots of self portraits this summer. The girls have discovered photography - WATCH OUT!

Several marathon games of Mono-poly (Katy's silly.)

Harry Potter Night!

A few lost teeth!

Don't ask. Just don't.

It was a good summer but I'm glad it's done.  What did you do this summer?

When You Can't Find What You Want...

Sew it!

Some of my earliest memories are of my mom in front of her sewing machine.  It seemed like she was always whipping up things for me to wear.  Since I've been an adult, she's sewn a few things for me (dresses in college, nursing tops and dresses as a new mom) but nothing recently.  I asked her to teach me the basics - and she said yes!

So here is a little timeline for you, followed by pictures.

• The girls and I arrived Thursday at noon. We met for lunch. Then my dad took the girls to the pool while my mom and I shopped for fabric and notions (I already had the patterns.)
• Thursday night we discovered we made a mistake with our fabric purchase, but we were able to make it work. We cut apart the patterns and organized our pieces.
• Friday morning we shopped at Hobby Lobby (got the right amounts of fabric!) We also hit Target and Kohls for shoes for the girls and me.
• Friday I went to lunch with my dad then returned to learn to sew. Girls went to the pool with Grandpa.  We cut the fabric for the first dress.
• Friday night the first dress is mostly together. We hit a few snags and had to stop and let the dress sit overnight.
• Saturday we didn't do much more than fiddle with the first dress all day.  Girls went to the pool with Grandpa again.  Finally got dress 1 hemmed and finished at about 10pm.  We cut the fabric for dress 2.
• Sunday my mom did all the sewing for dress 2 - it was a more complicated pattern. I went to lunch with my dad and the girls. Then when he took them to the pool, I kept my mom company and was available for fittings as needed.  Dress 2 was actually much simpler and more straightforward with WAY less modifications needed.

As promised...

Dress 1: Retro Butterick 4790 Misses' Wrap Dress

Dress 2: Simplicity 2884 It's So Easy Misses Dresses

Added placket in the "v"

Crossed the straps

I'm excited for school to start! I'm planning to wear a little sweater/shrug with both dresses to cover my arms/back. When I actually wear them, I'll post pictures :)

What do you do for clothing?  Do you find the styles and fit you like in the stores?

Vacation Pictures!

I made a quick movie in Picasa and uploaded it to YouTube.  Enjoy!

Toes in the Water...

Enjoying our vacation to the Nth degree!  Took oodles of pictures and enjoyed playing with them in Picasa.  I was planning to upload them but the wifi is SO SLOW! So you'll get a sample with more on Sunday (when I'm home with my speedy wifi!)