This morning I decided we were going to go to the store because naturally, even though we spent 30 euros two days before on groceries, we had no food. It looked like it could rain anytime but I really wanted to take the bike so we could get there fast and get home.The morning had already consisted of some whining, a teething baby who I was finally able to coax to sleep with some teething medicine, and a few episodes of Little Einsteins so I could get the kitchen cleaned. I got the kids ready and then had to get myself ready, which was not acceptable to either child. Ellie kept opening the front door, turning around saying "ok ready? ok ready? mama bike? Ellie bike?" Jonas was making himself heard. Before I could get over to lock the door, Ellie had managed to get her finger stuck and somehow also scrape Jonas's leg with the door. Commence crying and wailing from both kids. I calm them both down and continued to gather all the 101 things you need for a short outing. Ellie continued to get frustrated because she could no longer open the door and Jonas was just mad. Finally, after more and more whining, crying, and tantrumming, I yelled. I yelled, "MAMA NEEDS 2 MINUTES TO GET READY AND A LITTLE QUIET TO THINK!" If you're wondering if that helped to calm them down, it didn't. Did I feel a tiiiiny bit better? Maybe just a little bit.
Finally. . . finally we are all ready and I scoop up Jonas and carry him downstairs with Ellie trailing behind. Thankfully, my sweet husband had left my bike out in the storage hallway so I didn't have to maneuver it out of our storage room. It's still quite an adventure to get both kids on, the door open (because of course it's a door that has to be held open or it slams shut on your heels...don't ask me how I know that) and get the bike out. But we make it and the kid's shrieks of joy as we head outside, make the little struggle worth it. So we bike to the store and I'm thinking to myself, "Ah this is nice! and so much faster than walking with the stroller!" But I know the more difficult part lies ahead.

We arrive at the store and I finagle both kids off the bike, while it's sandwiched between two other bikes in a very narrow bike rack (narrow if you're trying to get two kids off the bike anyways). I didn't have the correct change to unlock the cart from the other carts (which, seriously, no one wants to steal your stupid carts. Is it really necessary to lock them?!) so a cashier gave me a token to use. After messing with it for 5-6 minutes, in which time I'm holding a squirming 10 month old and Ellie has found her little cart and keeps trying to go into the main store and I'm trying to redirect her to wait for me, I end up breaking the token. I call over the cashier and she has to hunt down tools to get the token out and get the cart unlocked for me. By this time I'm sweating from wrestling with Jonas, chasing after Ellie, and a little embarrassed from trying to get the stupid token out of the cart and then breaking it. I plop Jonas in the cart and off we go. The shopping itself was pretty good, except for Ellie dropping some pre-made wraps on the floor and me stuffing them on a shelf because I couldn't find a worker anywhere to give them to. I'm frazzled and can't really remember what we need but keep throwing stuff in the cart, mentally trying to imagine how it will all fit in my bag I had to carry home on my shoulder. We checkout and Ellie attempts to push herself through the line of people saying, "WATCH OUT!" as she tries to get through. That's really my fault because I say that to her at home when I'm trying to move around her. We're working on using excuse me. After "helping" Ellie to put her cart back, while she was trying to get out two more, and then packing the kids on the bike, I realized that my bag is freaking heavy and I have to carry home.
By the time we get home, there is a light mist, both babies are hungry and I still have to maneuver the bike into the storage shed, get both kids off without tipping over the bike, and get upstairs. I get Ellie off the bike first and tell her not to go outside (because the heavy door is still propped open). She meanders around a minute and then I see her slowly making her way to the door. I can't get to her right away because I'm still holding the bike, trying to get it to stay in place while I get Jonas off the front. I grab Jonas, my bike falls halfway over as I apparently didn't wedge it in right. I give it a shove back the other way and it stays put, but my husband will definitely have to rearrange it if he wants to fit his bike in. Ellie is standing outside the door. I yell...again... "ELEANOR ANNE!INSIDE!NOW!". I'm pondering what I can do because I can't very well sit her in timeout on the dirty floor. So I make her hold my hand up to our apartment. She is not happy about this and frankly neither am I, as now I am holding her hand, have Jonas on my other hip, and still carrying a freaking heavy bag of groceries on my shoulder. She is sitting herself down in the hall because she is mad about holding my hand. I kneel down in front of her and tell her that she must walk to our door like a big girl and once inside she can let go of mommy's hand but if she cannot walk, she will have to go to timeout. She decides walking is the better option here. I manage to get everyone and everything inside and start unpacking the groceries. Still frustrated, I drop the box of strawberries on the floor and they all go everywhere. I let out what might be described as a primal, gutteral, moan of exasperation...that pretty went on for a full 15-20 seconds. I see Ellie looking at me, unsure of what to make of this new, animal sounding mama, so I go with that and say, "Ellie, look, mama's sounding like an elephant". She doesn't buy it but luckily the site of strawberries strewn across the floor distract her enough for me to catch my cool. I turn away and take a few deep breaths and then lean down to pick up the strawberries. Both kids have handfuls and are stuffing them in their mouth like it's the only food they've seen in days. I don't even care.Dirty floor? Leafy stems? Don't care, eat the whole thing. And they did.
All of this happened in a span of an hour. ONE HOUR. Some days are just like this. Some days the deep breaths, the calming voice, the controlled patience, just doesn't quite make it out 100%. My kids are fantastic kids! They are not super challenging beyond just their normal age craziness. But it's exhausting trying to raise good kids. It's exhausting being consistent with discipline. It's exhausting just doing normal, everyday tasks like taking a trip to the store.
I have read the blogs about how much yelling can affect your children. I have read the "tips for remaining calm and patient with your toddler". I receive the emails about "child-led discipline" (what does that even mean? Because if I'm a child, I can tell you right now that my "discipline" is going to lead me right back to whatever it is I wanted to do in the first place). I sometimes wonder if these articles are written by people who have never had children or whose children are grown and forget what it's like to be in throes of toddler-hood. I read all these "tips" and still some days, let's be honest, a lot of days, I'm just trying to stay afloat on my life raft as my almost 1 and almost 2 year olds keep dunking me under. Most days I can keep my calm, discipline well, and repeat the same thing 100 times without getting too annoyed. But not today...no, today friends, I was a yeller.