Crazy, spoiled, and tired.

Well we are back from vacation and I must say it's nice to be home. I feel as if these types of "family" vacations are more stressful at times then relaxing. We left for Lake Champlain early Monday morning and it was a rough ride there. I had not gotten any sleep the night before...of course...with last minute packing and a 7 week old sleep did not come easily. We headed out for our long ride as prepared as could be, but as we all know as much as we plan things always go wrong! Our ride was filled with crying babies, whiny 4 year olds, and lots of stops that added 3 hours to our trip. We had to stop at the post office with ebay items along the way and when we finally found one it was closed for 15 minutes while they were on break! Does anyone work anymore!!!! When the finally opened we sent our packages off without a hitch....until we got back to the car. Where there was this foul smell. We thought that it may have been the dog who did get sick in her kennel but come to find out it was our son who did a major load in his pants! So I had to change the stinky diaper in Phil's new truck and in the process Ethan decided to pee all over the seat. Phil was not happy, and I was not happy cause Phil was not happy! We finally got to Alburg at 6:00 pm and we had left our house at 7:00 am! It is supposed to be a 7 hour drive! So we ate dinner and went to bed....but not for long for me. It seems I had picked up some sort of stomach bug along the way so that kept me running to the toilet all night, along with feeding the baby every 4 hours. Needless to say I was pooped "no pun intended" the following day. Phil had to get up early and leave so it was me...feeling like crap at the house with both the kids. My grandmother had a doctor's apt that day and she did not get home until lunch. She then wanted to take us out shopping which was nice, but I really wasn't in the best of moods to be going, but I did anyway. Now I still have not mastered shopping with both kids and it drives me nuts to have Emma walk, as she is very impulsive as most 4 yr olds are. She runs and touches everything and it stresses me out. Add that on top of fussy Ethan...because his normal routine was out of whack from traveling....and me having not eaten a thing because of being sick, and having little sleep...it was just a disaster. But Emma got her toys to play with and I got my stomach medicine and things seemed to be looking up. I went to bed early that night because I was so exhausted. Wednesday we spent the day watching movies, and checking out the new house my grandmother is building. Then we went food shopping, and Phil got off of work that day and met us at the supermarket. When we got back to my grandmother's house we noted that we had to take the car seats in the house so we wouldn't forget because she had an all day meeting Thursday and was leaving at 5 am. Well guess what!!! We forgot to get them out of her car. So Phil had all of Thursday off and we couldn't do a thing because we had no car seats. GREAT! Then I find out that Phil had guessed what his birthday present was.......OK NEW PLAN good thing I did not purchase it yet! We left that night at 6:30 pm to drive to Massachusetts and did not get there until 10:30 pm. Not too bad. Emma whined most of the way, but Ethan was a good boy and slept the whole time. Nobody was available Friday to visit so we did some errands, are some lunch, and then went to the wedding rehearsal, then dinner. We did not get home until 11 pm. Then I had to rat out my little sister for doing something she shouldn't have been. I felt terrible and it caused major drama in the house and upset many people. I hated doing it, but I love her and dont' want to see her get hurt. She is only 17, and it's rough being that age. I hope she knows it was only done for her own good!!!
Then the wedding was Saturday at 11 am and it was stressful having about 10 people in the same house trying to get ready. My little sister woke up and was talking to me again so that was good! But getting ready was a nightmare. As many people know with kids they have to be last minute, but by the time everyone showered and got ready and we got the kids ready we were all stressed to the max! The wedding however went off without a hitch and Emma did very well as flower girl! Then it was off to the reception.....we visited with lots of relatives that we hadn't seen in a while most we like, but a chosen few we could have done without! The reception ended at 4 but it seemed as if the party went back to my dad's house! By the time everyone cleared out it was 9 maybe 10 o'clock, and most people went to bed. I on the other hand stayed up to pack as we were leaving Sunday. Sunday came all to quickly and I met up with my mother who spoiled the kids, which I appreciate but hate all at the same time. I notice my kids get so spoiled while with everyone that they....meaning Emma....thinks that she can have whatever she wants whenever she wants. Because when we visit family that's what happens. Which they should be able to spoil her and enjoy buying her things, but where do you draw the line....because we took a trip to the mall today...for me....and boy was she a brat. She thought and expected to be bought everything she wanted, thought she could eat lunch out and get Dunkin Donuts....thought that she could run around like a fool....boy did she test me today!! Anyway back to last Sunday....after we met up with my mom we went to my sister in law's house so she could meet the baby.....and then it was off to NY again. We did not get home until midnight, and the ride pretty much went the same as the first time except this time it rained the whole way, and all of our stuff in the bed if the truck got soaked!

Don't get me wrong I love seeing everyone but it seems as if we always do all the work and it tends to be very stressful.

I am happy to be home but in some ways a little bored as well.

Now I will spend this next week getting the baby back on schedule and happy, and getting my daughter back in line. She is really testing the waters. She is very smart and knows when to act up. We were paying for my items in line with a gift card that did not want to work and she is hanging on the ropes that help form the line, she is trying to wake up the baby in the carriage by banging on his head, she is standing on the carriage and almost flipping it over etc. finally I had enough and I gave her a little pinch on the arm to encourage good behavior to which she responds to by screaming stop hurting my skin....that's not nice...I'm gonna have to spank you! YIKES! She is smart! So we had to leave and go out to the car to have a talk. While I was changing Ethan out there though she decides to put her tv on.....to which I decide that she is supposed to be punished out there and should not be watching tv so I unplug it. She starts crying and telling me I am not her friend (she is right, I am not her friend I am her mother) and that she is going to tell daddy and spank me because I am not nice. After I thought I had handled the situation we went back in.....and only because I had to. I was hoping and praying that the behavior would change but it did not. She seemed to have gotten worse. If I said dont' do it she would look at me and do it anyway, over and over again.....and still wanted me to buy her things and do stuff for her! AGH!!!! She is a spoiled brat! Sorry to say it, but that's what she was acting like and I really dont want her to be that. Honestly the kid has everything she could ever want because we have to much family who 1. loves her 2. sadly to say try to outdue each other in hopes of being the favorite person and 3. lets her act like an animal. How do you put in an end to this without being rude? I am very thankful for the things we do get my mom in particular is constantly giving me money for clothes and diapers etc which helps out a great deal, but when is enough enough. Especially with the toys! How do you fix it! I want my sweet little girl back. One thing I need to do is make her start doing chores. She is 4 and old enough to do some things around here. Plus if she does her chores she can get an allowance and learn to save up for things that she wants and realize that things aren't immediate all the time. I know we dont help this problem especially now since I am exhausted with the baby I tend to let her behavior slip a bit because it just too exhausting to even think about dealing with. But I can't neglet raising one child while raising the other. I have to step up no matter how difficult, and exhausting it's going to be. Like Emma said "I am not her friend". I just pray for strength to do it because this is going to be a rough ride. The first step was tonight by taking the tv out of the room. She had one in her room originally for movies, but as I got further along in my pregnancy and until after delivery she would watch cartoons in there. But it's way out of control now. She cries when asked to do something because she will miss her show, and that's all she wants to do. She is out of control. So today though the tv is still there the cable is cut off, and we are back to it's original use....MOVIES ONLY, and only on occasion! This makes more work for me again, because I will have to do more with her, and again I am so tired that taking that on makes me want to sleep....but it has to be done.

Anyway, I suppose I am done ranting for now. My head hurts so much from being so angry and frustrated today. I am just at my wits end and I have been dreading fixing the situation but it needs to be done. And some say I have high standards, but requiring my child to be respectful, and obedient is something I will not let slide. If she can show respect to her teacher she can certainly do it to me.

So I am in for some hard work and I will keep you posted. God help me!