Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel...

Usually I'm pretty stubborn and won't give up but tonight, man oh man, did I ever feel like throwing in the towel on this whole parenting thing.

Day 2 of single parenting is finally over, THANK GOD. It was a really rough day.

We met up with many of our friends for breakfast at Stacks this morning. I sat between Jamie (age 6) and Logan (age 2), and across from Robert (age 2.5), so I didn't get much adult chit chat in, but I think that comes with the territory when you're flying solo with your kiddo. Poor Jarrod did try and keep a few conversations with me going in between the two of us catching flying crayons, wads of coloring paper, tipping juice cups and an occasional sugar packet being open and possibly eaten when we weren't looking.

After breakfast, the Chouns headed home but Kim/Molly, Logan and I all went back to the Jodoins house for a play date with the kids. I'm not sure what was Logan's issue today, but he definitely was much more sensitive than usual. Any time one of the kids snatched a toy away that he was playing with, or played with a toy that he was thinking of playing with, he'd burst into tears and throw a fit. He was also not hip on Robert consistently crashing trains and trucks and cars into this one truck that he was playing with - which is strange since Logan is usually all about the crashing and mayhem. Who knows.

Because I knew we'd be getting together with Zane for dinner tonight, I didn't want to try and put him down for a nap at the Jodoins house and then have a huge fight just before dinner with Zane. Instead, I opted for the fight earlier in the day prior to a (peaceful and restful) nap at home. HOW SMART, RIGHT?

When it was time to go, Logan was NOT a happy camper. In fact, he tore off his shoes as I put them on, throwing them across Robert's room and kicking and wrestling to get away from me. Kim finally offered a much needed hand for my disabled pregnant ass, and picked Logan up, carried him out and buckled him into his car seat. Yay for Kim! :) He was actually fine with this, up until I started up the car and backed out of the driveway. Then it dawned on him that he was leaving Robert's house. His precious Robert. His beloved BFF. *sigh*

So, the entire ride home (which is only about 10 minutes but felt like 10 HOURS), he screamed at me, like vein-popping-out-of-the-forehead-and-jugular screaming. He was pulling at the buckles on his car seat, begging to be let out. Begging to "No, go this way!" (pointing behind us). Begging to go back to Robert's house. It was awful. When we finally pulled into our own driveway he just lost it (as if he hadn't already), screaming "Logan doesn't want a nap!"

He had worked himself into a real state.

I finally coaxed him inside saying "How about we just lie down together on Mommy's bed instead?" That was a permissible idea and he suddenly perked right up, grabbing my hand and saying "C'mon Mommy, this way" pulling me down the hallway toward my room.

He climbed into our bed, I popped a movie in and warmed up a bottle of milk and we quieted down together under the blankets. He was tired, but not ready to sleep yet - so I figured at least resting was something. Plus, I was really struggling with some aches and cramping and needed to lie down myself!

Once the movie was over, I told Logan it was time to try and lie down in his own bed, being 3pm and waaaaaaay past his naptime. He refused, and I literally had to pick him up and carry him into his own room, kicking and screaming. I had made another bottle at that point, but he couldn't think about milk, about books or story time, about settling down in his bed for a nap. He worked himself into another state. At one point I was literally holding him down in his bed so he wouldn't climb out and just to calm the kid down. It wasn't fun.

I'm not sure how, but he finally listened to reason and decided to take the bottle. Once he started taking a few sips, he calmed down (which I knew he would) and his eyelids became so heavy he could barely keep them open. He handed me back the bottle, rolled over and instantly fell asleep. THANK GOD.

While he napped I did some stretching to help with my back and joint pain, finished up a couple loads of laundry and dishes, and then laid down to watch a movie of my own. I got through about half of it before he woke up from his nap. He slept about 2.5 hours so it wasn't too bad.

Since it was close to dinner time, and we were meeting Zane, I needed to start getting us ready to go. I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth, brush my hair, go to the bathroom, etc. While on the toilet, Logan walks in and says "Mommy wants an M&M?"

Because, whenever Logan goes pee or poop these days, we'll give him an M&M afterward.

It was pretty cute. :)

He then proceeds to strip down naked, diaper off and all, before I have a chance to get up off the toilet and rescue him. He walks into our shower asking me to turn on the water so he can take a "bath" and starts picking up the few shampoo bottles within reach, asking me which one was for him.

And, right in the middle of inspecting my shaving gel, he pees.

Thankfully, he was naked, and it was in the shower. But still. We were supposed to meet my brother clear across town in half an hour. Gah.

So I carry him over to the bathtub and start an impromptu "quickie" bath, while calling my brother to let him know we'll need a few more minutes before meeting for dinner. :) I scrub him down quickly and then flip the switch to drain the tub - at which point Logan loses it. AGAIN.

He couldn't stand the idea of bath time being done. He couldn't stand the idea of me turning off the water. He couldn't stand the idea of me draining the tub. He just sat in the tub screaming his head off at me, his entire body shaking with rage.

And that's when my emotions got the best of me, and I finally felt like throwing that towel in.

I left the bathroom for a minute to shed a few tears, before composing myself and going back in to fight the nasty fight. He was so furious that he couldn't sit down and just play in the tub anymore. It was past the point of no return. So, I picked him up out of the tub, laid him onto the bed to dry him off and try to hug him and calm him down. He continued to shake and scream with rage.

I was so desperate to get him to calm down I finally decided to call Jon. I thought MAYBE if he heard Jon's voice on the phone he could snap out of it. A circuit or two could get reseated and we'd be on our merry way. But, alas, that idea backfired on me - and he screamed at Jon on the phone as well.

I flipped on one of his TV shows, and that finally cooled him off (or distracted him) enough for me to finish drying, lotion him up and get him dressed. He was still holding onto a couple of his rubber bath toys this whole time and when I took them away to put them back into the tub, I also flipped the switch to finish draining the tub and HOLY SHIT was that the wrong move because he heard the draining water start up again and threw another fit! I stopped the drain, brought the toys back in for him to hold, and thought oh well, I guess I'll just drain it tonight once he's in bed (speaking of, I still need to go in there and drain the damn tub).

It had just started raining which was actually a good thing, since it got him interested in walking outside, with his new umbrella, and climbing into the car (I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get him out of the house or not!). We met up with my brother for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican places, La Milpa, and had a fantastic dinner. Logan was a total champ, hamming it up for his Uncle Zane every other minute, never showing a sign of grumpiness or devil-child that he had had in him just minutes earlier. We hung out for a couple of hours before calling it a night, and heading back home.

Thankfully, Logan didn't resist bedtime. Thankfully because I'm not sure if I'd have had the strength left in me for another fight tonight.