The REST of the day...

Gheesh...I'd better post the REST OF THE STORY before the Department of Child Welfare comes to my house...

Okay.  It was bad.  And I am not proud of my behavior...

Ugh...

I stayed in my room until I'd calmed down.

When I came out -- Lilly was in the living room -- crying.  Her shoulders were shaking from the trauma (or was it drama?) of it all...

Warren was, of course, completely unaffected.  By any of it.

I asked Lilly and Warren to come into my room and the three of us sat on my bed.  Here's how it went:

Me:  I am sorry I got so angry.  I'm sorry I was screaming at you.  That was a Bad Grandma moment...and I hope you can forgive me.  But we need to talk about what happened...and why it happened...What went wrong?

Warren had no idea what I was talking about...

Lilly said:  We couldn't find our shoes.

Me:  No.  That had nothing to do with it.  I can't find my shoes all the time.  That wasn't it.  Any other guesses?

C.R.I.C.K.E.T.S....

Me:  My Grandma Meltdown happened because the two of you have been bickering for days now.  Lilly -- you go out of your way to be mean to Warren...and PLEASE don't roll your eyes when I'm talking to you.  Warren -- you DO NOT listen.  Your behavior is very annoying to people who are trying to get things done.  You need to pay more attention to what's happening around you.  AND YOU BOTH NEED TO BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER.  It's that simple.  You should treat your brother (or sister) in the same courteous way you would treat a good friend at school.

Who knows what they heard.  And i am scared to think about what they'll actually remember...

Because you wonder about a childhood.  I mean...I remember some bad moments -- but how many GOOD days surrounded them?  Ugh...

There are three doors at the end of my hall.  I went into my bedroom, Lilly went into the bathroom, and Warren went into the Lego room.  We closed the doors and counted to ten (which we did jointly).

On the count of 10 -- we opened our doors and stepped out into the hall.  We gave each other a morning hug (even though by now it was after 2:00 PM) -- and STARTED FRESH.

At that point, the lesson I wanted to teach was how to GET OVER YOURSELF..!!

**********

still no internet at my house...so I'm sitting at a grocery store.  AGAIN.  But I wanted you to know the children are fine.  Yesterday, we worked a puzzle, played a new game and watched the Green Mile.  Today I'm taking them swimming. 

Please cancel your call to the Department of Child Welfare...