When your children drive you batsh*t crazy .....

Ok .... so I have to be honest - I have 3 REALLY AMAZING kids. Over the past few years, with Clarissa's help, we have worked hard on independence. We come up with meal ideas together, we shop together, and then they are responsible for their own lunches. They all help with dinners AND each of them has weekly responsibilities around the house. So yes, I have amazing kids ..... they do from time to time drive me whacko though!

Today is a beautiful sunshiney (I know that's not a real word, but I LOVE it) day albeit cold and a bit of snow on the ground. I wanted to go for a short stroll .... of course to my local coffee shop, but also to get outside, get some vitamin D and fresh air and to be TOGETHER.

When I went upstairs to get a fleece and get my oldest (she is 14) I said, "are you ready?" to which she replied, "Yep". Quickly thereafter, she said "Mom, how are we getting there?" This of course deserves a bit of scene setting because we literally live about a 2 minute drive from the shops, so my response was, "walking". I then got "I don't want to go."

I tried telling her it wasn't optional and that I wanted to spend some time with her outside of the house. To which I got more, "I don't want to go."

QUESTION FOR YOU ...... AT THIS POINT WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I had my youngest and Maggie waiting for me to go and was basically dealing with the dead weight of a 14 year old that is the same height as I am (and I am 5' 9").

In the past, I would have tried to "rationalize" with her, get mad at her, and eventually I would leave in a pissy mood with a little sister who didn't do anything to deserve my pissy mood.

So today - I just left BUT BEFORE I DID, I:

* took her phone away and hid it AND

* turned off the wifi so the TV didn't work either.

I spent time with my little ..... good quality time ..... and when I came home, my older one was in a pretty decent mood - she had even made herself a good lunch!

This whole parenting thing is a guessing game of "picking our battles" but I am finding as I go through it, the calmer I stay, the better EVERYONE comes out on the other side!

<3 T