Ups and downs

It's been a bit up and down here in the last few days. Mostly related to boy-behaviour, but I've also been struggling with muscle tension in my shoulders and neck and the resulting headaches.

When dealing with boy tears, what better way to
cope than with C3PO tissues?

I can't tell you the details of the bad or even much of the good because I respect the privacy of my boys. It is harder as they get older. Yesterday morning when I was feeling particularly exhausted by parenting, this article called "Help for parents who want to give up" that popped up in my newsfeed on Facebook, especially this:

There’s support groups for moms of preschoolers, but where’s triage for the moms of teenagers? The older our kids become, the greater our isolation can become, because while mothers can instagram and commiserate together over the Terrible Twos — but mothers struggling through a stretch of terrible teens can suffer alone.

Yesterday we saw good come out of the bad with one son whose earlier bad choices led to him making some better decisions that are hopefully a sign of better things to come. 

Parenting is such a long-term event. So much persistence, patience, and resilience is required. Oftentimes I feel like we take two steps forward and three backward. But periodically we are rewarded with gold. I got some rare compliments on my parenting yesterday from one of my boys. GOLD!

I've been trying to work hard at the computer these last two days because after today I won't get back to this desk for any good quality time until next Tuesday. 

Tomorrow I'm off on Grade 5 camp for two days (I did it two years ago, take a look at this blog post if you want a glimpse of what we'll be doing, it isn't under canvas).

Saturday is the last Track and Field event for the season. 

Sunday we'll be at church then collapsing. 

Monday is OMF prayer and fellowship day on the other side of the city again.

But my brain hasn't been working super well today. On top of being headachy, I've not been able to concentrate very well on editing or writing, both tasks that need doing.

So, I'm here, writing on my blog instead! I am looking forward to getting out of the city tomorrow, I just hope the kids are cooperative. Last time a couple of the girls in my group did a runner on me. That was not fun at all. Neither was the knee pain I had at the time.
But I'm hoping that these next two days will be different, and better.

Right now I just need to pack my bag. Arghh. One of my least favourite things to do, even for only an overnighter!