It has been a rough week (aren't they mostly). Some highlights and some aarrgghh- does- it- ever- end, moments.

Highlights:

1- Going to the movies (rarely can, it's so expensive) and watching Superman Returns. We all enjoyed it, although my four year old son kept asking when Spiderman was going to appear (not till next summer, in his own movie), and where did the X Men go (soon to a DVD near you).
2- Doing all of my laundry. It's a rarerity to see the clothes hampers completely empty.
3- Quick and tasty cooking. I have to thank a couple of appliances and products for this. So Thanks to: George Foreman's Grill, the microwave oven, and Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (90 seconds and it's done).
4- Holidays. They are a great way to catch up on household work.
5- Weekly Fieldtrip to Local Bookstore. Inexpensive way to spend quality time with kids, promote reading and interaction with others of similar age, and gets everyone out of the house.
6- Baby Shower at cousin's house. The kids got all dirty and sweaty and had tons of fun. It's great to see that what was once an all female event has gradually turned into a family, couples event. Lots of men and kids at the Baby Shower and everyone had a blast. Progress, one of Life's little miracles.
7- My four year old daughter "washing dishes", the fact that she did it voluntarily. For a four year old she did pretty good. I had to rewash some things, but considering her age, she did great. She's so amazing and helpful, smart and caring. One must remember to promote that behavior.
8- My two eldest daughters philosophizing over Superman and how clueless everyone in the movie is. Hello, don't they realize that whenever Clark is around, Superman isn't and vice versa. Gee, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there was no Clark and no Superman for five years, Clark comes back, and what do you know, there's Superman again.(If everything were that obvious...)


Now some aarrgghh-does-it-ever-end moments:

1- TIRED. No matter how many breaks I take between chores, I'm eternally tired.
2- The temper tantrum my son threw at local bookstore when it was time to leave. He's a child, he's four, he has yet to find a productive way to channel his inner diva. I can handle all of that, he'll outgrow it (hopefully soon!). What I cannot handle is Non Parental Units (NPU) and some Parental Units (PU) staring at me while my child has a tantrum. The way I see it (my opinion, you can agree to disagree), if I were to spank him or firmly reprimand him some would think I was a bad parent for taking that type of action. On the other hand, if I just ignore it and try to draw his attention to something else, some NPU's and PU's stare as if I were the worst parent in the world for not doing something about his "bad behavior". In the word's of Eleanor Roosevelet "You're damned if you do, damned if you don't".
3- My eldest daughter's (Ericka) constant whining and her attempts at negotiating EVERYTHING. Are all eleven year olds as proficient at whining, manupulating and negotiating as mine, or do I have the exception? I love her to death, she's brilliant, funny, and very creative, but does fingernails on a chalkboard bring any images to mind. Well that's the feeling. Everyday. Constantly.
4- Loneliness. Yup, sometimes I feel that being a single parent is equal to having a highly contagious disease, or like kicking small dogs for the hell of it ( I would never do that by the way). It would be nice to be just Diana more often, and talk about other things besides SpongeBob, Teen Titans, and every other show on Cartoon Network, Noggin, Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel.

In conclusion, if we refer to the previous lists there are more highlights than aarrgghh-does-it-ever-end-moments, so in actuality it wasn't such a bad week.

;oDD