Oh the Craziness!

I keep hesitating to come post this because I don't want to come off as some whining, complaining mother who doesn't enjoy her kids. I love these little turkeys with all that I have... but lately... I can't express clearly enough how CRAZY they are making me. So, I will post it because you know, sometimes getting it all out helps me stay sane. Just a few things that are on my mind (and making me lose it!)

The screaming... Zack and Ben are still screaming. I've never had a kid who screamed until we went on vacation a month ago. Somehow, they picked up on the fact that screaming with the shrillest, highest pitched scream gets Momma really riled up. I figured a few weeks of routine and being told "NO" would break it, but it seems to be getting worse. In fact, when Ben doesn't get what he wants he pulls out that scream. It doesn't get him what he wants, but he seems to take great delight in bursting my eardrums.

The fighting... is ongoing. Eric and Mark still bicker non stop from the time they walk in the door to the time they go to bed. Mark pesters Eric until he gets mad, Eric whines and makes Mark mad. I just get mad. Can't they see how lucky they are to have a sibling close in age to play with? Short answer, no. No amount of scolding, grounding from Wii, or time outs help. But it's not just Eric and Mark. Now Zack and Ben have started fighting. Usually Ben will have a toy, Zack will grab it and Ben will (guess what?) SCREAM bloody murder. Fun times.

The potty accidents... We should really be over this by now I think, but Zack is still having multiple accidents per day so I can't really even say that he's potty trained. He does great when I take him, but at some point I think he should be able to tell me when he needs to go. EVERY time I leave it up to him he pees his pants. OY By the third kid I should have this down, right? I don't.

Ben taking his pants, and diaper off... Seriously, the peepee on the potty trend was cute and fun, but now he doesn't really want to pee on the potty as much as he just wants to be naked, and or drive me crazy... probably a combination.

The escape attempts. Zack and Ben got out of the house last week. I was making a phone call, realized it was suddenly too quiet and upon investigating realized the front door was open. I ran out the door to discover Zack and Ben running away from the house, toward the culdesac. On the sidewalk, thankfully, but still not good. There have been numerous escape attempts since and my heart can't take it.

Early rising sneakies... I thought we had this under control. A few days of spy cam monitoring and they were sleeping until 6 and not pulling any craziness in the wee hours. Until today. Apparently Ben was up without my knowledge (this is BAD!!!) and decided to play in the water (WORSE) in the upstairs bathroom sink. I woke up to "MOMMY BENS FLOODING THE BATHROOM!!!!!!!!!" Fortunately the big boys knew to turn off the water and get us up. It could have been way worse. Kevin cleaned up the water and I told the boys if they are up and ESPECIALLY if Ben is up they MUST come and get me. Period. No exceptions. We'll see if the reminder will help.

And now I must go see if I can find Eric's missing cub scout tee shirt which hasn't turned up yet.