Sometimes you just have to let go

Yesterday was one of those roller-coaster days. The Princess and I had a great morning at the park full of sunshine and friends. We picked up SkyWalker, had lunch and she readily went down for her nap and said Bye and waved me out of the room. I had so much to do--laundry is backed up, the bathrooms haven't been cleaned in a while, there were toys everywhere. I got a little done and then she woke up and we all went outside and I just had to let it go. Let the towels stay in the dryer, let the clothes stay in the laundry basket. They played in the sand box and then whined for me to push them in the swing. I did for a short time and had to tell them swing time was over. SkyWalker whined and moaned and the Princess found her own solution. She threw herself on the big swing and rode it like an airplane. I sat on the deck and filmed them (she got her brother to do it too) and it was the perfect afternoon moment. The dogs were outside--both of them--laying in the shade of the playset completely content. We've been trying to let Isaac off the leash a little bit. I don't know if it was because it was the first time I had let him just be outside in MONTHS or if it was the extreme heat, but he just relaxed and had a nice time. 

And then they all fought me when it was time to come inside and when I had to make dinner and when I asked them to clean up their rooms. While I was going through SkyWalker's clothes looking for some bedtime shorts and pulling stuff that's too small and trying to organize them he decided to dump the box of shoes that I had just looked through to find sandals for his sister. I told them they were all too small, but he insisted on trying them on, and then saying "No, doesn't fit" and THROWING them across his room. So the Princess sat down, grabbed some shoes, "tried" them on and did the same exact thing. And they both refused to clean it up. 

OH! And the biggest thing! Luckily the Princess was naked during this... they both decided that paper is overrated and drew on themselves with marker. All over the Princess's belly. All over both of their hands and hair. Everywhere. That, in addition to the sand from being outside meant Mommy had to give them a bath. I usually skip Monday nights because it's so hard for me to do it alone. 

While they were trying to get on my last nerve I was trying really hard to just let it go and not let them drive me crazy. I'm not saying I didn't raise my voice... but I tried to keep the image of them on the swings finding their own entertainment and giggling by themselves in my head. I was really ready for bedtime and Heroes (argh!) but I tried really hard to just let them be. 

Right now they are downstairs by themselves probably doing some kind of damage. I have laundry in the washing machine and more to do. I have to clean up after snack and figure out what's for dinner. I'm sure I will want to explode when I go downstairs and see what I have sacrificed--despite the warning to not make any big messes. But sometimes I just have to let it go and let them be crazy and not sweat the small stuff. Because even the biggest mess is really small stuff. After how many surgeries we've gone through I need to remind myself of that every once in a while. 

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