Monday, November 23, 2009

Let me tell you about MY NIGHT.......

This evening, I had my nose out of joint. My little naughties were much naughtier than usual. The house looked (still looks) like a bomb exploded in it. Pretty much the only noises I heard all night were "Crash", "Whack", "Scream", and "I'm telling Mom!" I spent two hours making soup with one arm while holding the baby in the other. And then those rude little things refused to eat it and sat at the table saying "Ooh, this is so yucky, mom." Reuben managed to "accidently" tip his soup over so he didn't have to eat it while the others spread biscuit crumbs from floor to ceiling (exaggeration, not quite to the ceiling, but really, almost!) There was also actual punching at the dinner table. After dinner, I excused myself to go cuddle baby Jude to sleep. I instructed Jonah to go turn on the t.v. to the pbs channel for the kids, hoping against all odds to have 15 minutes of quiet so I could get Jude to drop off into dreamland. No such luck. Reuben had taken the batteries out of the controller and lost them so there was no way to turn on the t.v. For the next 30 minutes there was a steady stream of kids coming into my room to tattle tale: "Mom, Reuben filled the bathroom sink with biscuits and turned the water on." "Mom, Jonah accidently broke a picture and there is glass all over the living room." "Mom, someone peed on the floor and I slipped in it" (no confessors). And on and on it went. I finally got Jude to sleep (the smallest Crandall cannot fall asleep unless his head is laid snuggly on his mother's arm) and had dozed off myself, when I heard three happy, excited voices by my bedside. My sweet stinkers presented me with handwritten love notes, mangled biscuits left over from dinner and ice water (note to self: never, EVER, make biscuits again). And another surprise was waiting for me upstairs:



Well guess what, me wee boys, I love you, too! And you may count yourselves very lucky that I've changed my mind about our theme song for next month being "I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas, cause I ain't been nuttin' but Bad!"

11 comments:

Catherine said...

Oh, Brooke! I laughed out loud at your description (especially the soup!) and my heart goes out to you as a temporarily-single mom!

Thank you for sharing; it's so refreshing to find that I'm not the only one with days like that.

And isn't it amazing that those little stinkers can suddenly be so incredibly sweet? :)

Shumaker said...

Brooke I totally get it all. I have had what feels like the worse month ever with james being gone. I have done nothing but a lot of crying this week because I feel so overwelmed I guess. I really do not know what started the crying fit but I have had a LOT of good cries this week. Sad thing is is the week in only three days into and I have 4 more to go of more crying I am sure. Well as some one told me and this too shall pass.....

LeAnn said...

"... she gave them some broth, without any bread. She (fill in the blank) them all soundly, and sent them to bed." :)

Big hugs for you (and Tara) (and Catherine). It certainly isn't easy but those little moments of love make it worth it!

Jenna said...

Oh dear Brooke...this post made me cry, I can picture everything you related and remember all too clearly, many nights like this right after Elisabeth was first born. At times it feels like life is more of struggle than anything else and then there are moments when we can clearly see it's ALL worth it! I'm so glad your boys provided you with one such moment.

It breaks my heart to know you're there on your own right now...although I know from experience, there are few places, where you will find such a group of friends who love you and will help you through it all. I wish it was otherwise for your sweet family's sake, wish it could all be
absolutely ideal right now, wish I was still close enough to be one of those friends surrounding you! I wish nothing but the best for you, because that is what you deserve...you are such an amazing person.

jaesi said...

you my dear friend definitely deserve a tropical vacation when this whole living with out a dad/hub deal ends.
got it?

Miss you all. I would take baby J off your hands/hip in a heart beat!

Teresa said...

i am so glad you wrote all of that down. what a memory it will be one day. those monkeys have gone bananas! now did you give them all a broom and mop and tell them clean it up? i wish i could help you too brooke. and we could laugh and cry together.

Anna said...

Poor Brooke - that so sounds like my boys! I can't imagine having three of them that are of trouble-making age! Hope it gets better...

allyn said...

story of my life, brooke! except i don't usually get a lego message at the end of the day. i feel your pain and will listen any time you need a shoulder.

Shawn and Mish said...

I love this post! I hope you don't feel too completely alone w/o Todd around. It's tough, I know. 3 cheers to you for staying so optimistic. How can you not? You have 4 of the cutest boys I have ever seen!

My Three Sons said...

So precious! We all have days like that! I'm glad yours ended sooo well! I love the "I LOVE YOU" in what appears to be legos...priceless!

Lake said...

I am impressed with how good and patient you are. I would have freaked, locked my bedroom door and crawled into bed.