How Does This Work?

One thing that completely mystifies me about motherhood is the fact that my children can completely drive me beyond words out of my mind crazy, and mere seconds later I am filled with a deep, profound love that is also beyond words or explanation. How does that work? I can be DONE with them. Send them to bed, send them to boarding school, send them ANYWHERE but in my face, but if I do get a brief break I miss them almost immediately. It's complicated.

These past few days have been crazy. We are all in that holy crap, so this is what real life is, phase of coming home from vacation. We were gone for 2.5 weeks. There was not much resembling real life in that time. We ate out a lot, my mom cooked for us, Kevin's mom cooked for us.I managed to not be in charge of meal prep for the entire time. The kids were up late every.single.night. So to come home to reality was a SHOCK. And I think that maybe they've forgotten who is in charge around here because HOLY MOLY it's been one big whine fest around here. And one of my children (care to guess?) is being downright rude to me and telling me what he's going to do and when he's going to do it. Don't worry, it's on it's way to being under control.

Let's take lunch, for example.

Mark: I am NOT going to eat THAT, I will be eating a peanut butter sandwich.
Me: silently preparing his plate.
Mark: MOM I SAID I'm NOT going to eat that!!!
Me: Ok, then you can just have a nap instead of free time today.
Mark: No no no, I'll eat it.
Zack: (as I put the food on the table, this is said in the most whiny voice possible) I NO WANT CHICKEN ON MY CHIPS (we were having nachos)
Me: Silently give him "the look" at which point he starts eating.

It's been this scenario over and over and over again. But then after lunch as I beg the time to pass so that it can be tv time (and so I can have a minute of quiet) suddenly they who have been arguing and fighting all day long are playing nicely. I overhear this:

Eric: Let's TRANSFORM!!! I turned into SUPER Eric!!
Mark: I turned into SUPER Mark!!!
Zack: My turn into SUPER Yack!!

And all that stress and anxiety and frustration I was feeling minutes before was replaced with thoughts of, I am the luckiest mom. I really love those boys.

And by the way, Mark did eat his lunch.