Not always picture perfect

Monday is THE day - you know, the day when everything starts...again and again. It's the first day back from being with mom and dad, and friends (outside of daycare). It's THAT day. 

I like to look at it as the day when we get to change it up a bit, if we dare and look forward to the other days with hope. 
Of course, that's if MY kid lets me sleep more than 3 hours a night (crazy right? I mean she's 2 years old...Gah!) Whatever the case, we do Mondays because we have to. Because there's no Tuesday, Wednesday or so on, without Monday.

OUR DAYS ARE...

So what's a typical day for us?
Well, there's a bit of this and that. Fighting over toys is pretty common in our space, but thankfully, that is short-lived. There are tears of frustration, and tired tears. There is defiance, and tantrums.  People who don't know me - those who get right in there sometimes get confused at my hands-off approach when it comes to problem-solving in certain matter, but, amazingly, the kids work out THEIR stuff.

There are also the days when moods just get moodier. When sniffles or teething cause for more quiet-time. But guess what? There's so much laughter and squealing, it's delightful. They make their days - not me and certainly not the activities. This is their first lesson in being the pilots of their own lives.

There are hands - so many hands offering to help, and help they do, in putting things away for a friend who can't reach, or fixing costumes just so, or even, picking up that "lost" cheerio that fell on the floor and putting it right back where it belongs (in friend's bowl of course).

They also use nice words...soothing words when friends are hurt or tired or new. These kids amaze me.

And we dance to THE beat, or to our own beat. And sometimes, just sometimes we all need to stop for a second - okay, maybe a minute or so, because we have other things (besides dancing to do) - like eating, or napping. Of course, eating is iffy, and napping...hmm,  that's another story. 

All in all, we agree, eating and napping are quite necessary, BUT, we will fight til the death, and then we just get really hungry, OR we just conk out from exhaustion. Whatever the case, these little warriors keep coming back with more, and I guess I'm prepared for it.

Do you see the craziness of our days in the pictures? Why, of course not. There was the lovely shot of Z rolling around on the kitchen floor having a tantrum ONCE  but that's the only time I ever snapped one of the kids having a not so pretty moment. Of course I only shared that photo because she is MY kid. Make no mistake however, they all take turns.

In all practicality, I think it would be ridiculous if my (past) childcare provider went around snapping shots of my kid as he was having a tantrum/crying spell instead of soothing and calming him, so I don't have photos of the bad moments. 

In fact, I wish to put those moments out of my mind as quickly as possible and see my littles ones for what they are...little humans beings.

In the end, I choose the photos that remind me of the beauty of our days, AND I choose the photos that you dear parents want to see of your children, but let's be honest in whatever we do...it's not always picture perfect.

And I might tell you 5 out of 5 days that your little one had a rough day, or a defiant streak that's disrupting our activities. It's not to make you feel bad, or to nitpick; it's to say, hey, these are the days we are having...this is how we are doing.
It's to keep you dear parent in the loop, and to try, try again, until we come close to something in the middle. Not perfect - just something in the middle.