A box of BBs.

Yesterday I had one of those Mommy days from you know where! I know all of you moms have been there...the kids are non-stop fighting, whining, crying, demanding. I swear sometimes they think I am their servant! Not even a please or thank you, or at the very least a kind tone!

Here's how my evening went: Paige gets home from school and I need to run 2 short errands to the bank and the dry cleaner. This event is accompanied with whining from Paige that she HATES coming home from school and having to go straight somewhere because she's been on the bus FOREVER! Also she can't stand the sound of Haily's voice. She does a lot of deep growling and gnashing of teeth.

We get home and I am scrambling to get dinner finished. Lots of complaints about having tacos; of all things, why would I serve my family TACOS? Charlie is pulling on my pants, getting between me and the counter and pushing me, whining...

Jon gets home and wonders of I will have time for him later...

After fighting through dinner I can't take it anymore so I go into my room and lay on my bed in the dark for some peace and quiet! Jon thinks the solution to this is to load the dirty, ornery, tired kids in the car and go get ice cream. I say I don't want to go because I know they will just fight all the way there and back and I can't take listening to that anymore. He makes them promise they won't. I reluctantly go. There is fighting and crying all the way there and back.

We get home and I put the girls to bed but don't have the patience to deal with Charlie yet. He toddles around me asking me "matter?" while I lay on the dark bed again. I see Haily repeatedly getting out of her bed and sneaking into the bathroom but have no energy to scold her. Jon emerges from his office and deals with her. He lectures the girls on how they are wearing me out with their constant whining and fighting. He tells them they need to do better from now on. That punishments will be more swift and more severe.

Later he tells me that Haily was preparing a gift for me that she wanted to present me but he advised her against approaching me at that point and offered to present the gift to me for her.

He brings me this lovely blue and pink box. Inside, under the carefully placed toilet paper (which I saw her sneak into her room by tucking it into her pajama pants) was her complete collection of BBs. She LOVES BBs for some reason and always picks them up on the street whenever we are outside. It is her prized possession and each one is accounted for in her mind.

Needless to say I was touched by her sacrifice and her gesture of an apology. She is so sweet, as well as Paige and Charlie. I had to go into her room and see her precious sleeping face. Today was a much better day.
When I picked Haily up from school I thanked her for her thoughtful gift and told her how much it meant to me. She said, "That was ALL my BBs...but that's OK, I can find more." Oh, Haily! I told her she can still use mine anytime she wants.