Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The reality of 1 Mum vs 4 Little Boys...

The reality is that I'm outnumbered...heavily.

My 4 little angels on the bridge at Bonnie Doon!

At home this is fine.  I can easily manage the 4 boys when they're all playing and hanging out.  They often are focused on their own interests at times as well.  It's not unusual for say Louis to be on the computer, Dylan reading Lego instructions (seems he enjoys it more than building them at this stage), Ethan playing Super Mario Bros on the Wii and Jayden making all sorts of voices and sounds in the play room with the animal toys. 

Yesterday however, I loaded the car up and picked Louis up after school to head to a Dr's appointment at 3.45pm.  The appointment was for Louis (nothing serious - all is fine!) and as we pulled into the parking lot I took a breath and tried to briefly remind them of the "rules". 

"We must be quiet while we're waiting"

"We must sit still and be on our best behaviour"

Although I think the boys heard something more along the lines of...

"The Dr's waiting room is like a playground, jump around and be noisy"

We started off just fine, holding hands crossing the car park and quietly walking in.  We sat to wait and thankfully there were a few really great toys for the boys to play with.  Which was all good for about 5min...then the boredom set in.  I quickly handed out my iPhone to the first interested party (Dylan) but other than that there was not much I could do. 

Finally we were called in and we were really in and out in a few minutes.  The walk out to the reception was loud and crazy and we had to wait to be seen.  I had boys running in each direction...and some decided they would walk like gorillas across the floor.  Then the inevitable dash away from Mum began because after all, she can only get one of us at a time.  I scooped Jayden up and he inevitably started to squawk and scream. 

Just as I was signing away and thinking they were all sitting quietly around my feet (some wrapped around my feet) I took a breath.  Then Jayden pops up with his cheeky smile and the reception lady was so friendly.

"Oh hello little one, aren't you a cutey!"

I have a brief moment to feel good about this interaction when Jayden, who is only 2 1/2 years old comes out with...

"You stupid"

I shall just put my hand up for mother of the year award right now I think...

Flustered and over it I quickly try and catch the boys as they make a run for the door...I call out to hold hands when Ethan dashes across the car park to the car, Louis starts climbing a tree and Dylan and Jayden are trying to escape the grip I have on their hands...

The newly crowned Mother of the year straps everyone in the car and announces that there will be no electronics (easier to say than computer, TV, ipad, iphone or Wii) when we get home!!! 

So yeah, I lost my composure for a bit there...

Once we returned home though, I was a little frazzled so I put on some relaxation music, lit some candles and burned some essential oils and was in my own little world of peace while preparing dinner! 





Ethan loves pulling faces! Lucky it's such a cute one!

It's so important to centre ourselves after these moments, for our own benefits and for the kids as well!

Lessons Learnt (and yes, you would assume that I had learnt them by now!):

  • The best option would be to book a Dr appointment when I only have a manageable 1 or 2 children with me.
  • Perhaps have another adult with me to make it a little easier.
  • If the above options cannot be arranged, be more prepared with snacks/distraction
  • Accept that the boys will struggle with quiet/boring places for a few more years yet and I just need to deal with it!
I give you all permission to remind me of this post and the lessons I should have learnt as I take the boys, on my own, to the Melbourne zoo over the holidays...

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