Attitude?

I brag about my kids a lot. They are so worthy of that bragging too. We are able to thoroughly enjoy so much of their lives because of the joy they bring to us. They are smart, generally charming, and usually, very well behaved.

I was frustrated with the kids on Friday. I had several things that I needed to get done and every step of the way it felt like they were pulling me in a different direction from where I wanted to go. It felt like they dug their heels in with each step I made towards progress and the tension was building higher and higher as we progressed through the day. "What is wrong with you?" went through my head several times. "Why do you always act good and today when I am needing you to act extra good are you guys acting crazy?" also went through my head (and was probably spoken a few times). I had to keep pushing on though, this stuff needed to be done.

And then I realized, that was the difference. I was seeing this stuff as being so urgent, so necessary, and they were feeding off of that. Instead of my usual relaxed, we will see what we can get done, anything is great attitude, I was giving off urgency, frantic energy, and panic. And they were feeding off that. Like predators at a kill, they took in the vibes and acted in turn. They weren't acting pad per say, but they were letting my energy feed into their normal kid behavior. And with each turn of "WHY?!?!", they reacted energetically, which led to more "WHY?!?", and the cycle escalated up from there.

I think that is what makes our days usually so great. I perceive much in our lives as it will be great if we can ____, but in reality as long as we are all happy and fed at the end of the day then we are probably doing pretty well. And they have become accustomed to that and thrive in that attitude. So when I changed the rules to we have to do x,y, and z, and it has to be done in this way or the world is going to end, then they reacted in suit.

I am so proud of how my little troopers handed the change in their commanding officer. We had a better day after we all had a little lunch (which for the girls consisted of popcorn at Target and nothing else...their choice, not mine) and a chance to rest before Daddy got home. We got the things done that we needed to get done, but I think I will go back to the old attitude for errands and running around from here on out.