Tired children are cranky children

Today was a good example of when to stay home vs. going out. The kids had a great morning at school and had no interest whatsoever in having a nap in the afternoon. After their quiet time, Bean requested a trip to the park. It was such a beautiful day here that I thought being out in the sunshine would be a good idea. So off to the park we went. Unfortunately, we appear to be entering another new phase of life where each child wants to do something different. When there's only one parent, it makes it almost guaranteed that someone is going to meltdown because they don't get to do what they want. Then you add in the tiredness factor and you get a hysterical Schmoo at the park screaming at her mother because she doesn't want to go for a bike ride. Not exactly fun times. They did manage to have a bit of fun at the park before the bike ride meltdown. Schmoo found one of her friends from school at the park and ran around playing tag with him and another boy for a little while. Bean, of course, just wanted to be pushed high in the sky on the swings until his focus changed to riding his trike.

So the lesson has been learned. For now, there will not be outings after quiet time, before supper time. I think I need to aim for outings after lunch instead and have a later quiet time, especially since Bean seems resistant to sleeping in the afternoon. Then we'll be able to roll right into dinner time, bath time and into bed by 6:30pm.

Luckily, Papa came to the rescue at 5:45pm, returning home from his meeting in time for me to go to the gym. I'm sure it made for a much happier bedtime for everyone and I was able to get in my sweat fix. I returned to a lovely turkey burger and tomato bocconcini salad dinner. I'm aiming to get to bed early as tomorrow is going to be a long day at work and I've left myself a big "to do" list to accomplish.

Schmoo's new haircut - a happier mood in the morning before school