ahhhhhhhhrrrrrgh

I am immensely relieved that Henry is napping right now. The kids and I are home most of the day today, waiting for the heating guy to come look at our leaky hot water heater. It was wet and cloudy this morning so we didn't go outside. Celia and Henry are in this difficult stage where they want to play together and often do really well at it, but just as often end up yelling at each other and fighting over things. It's exhausting. I sometimes have to intervene, but sometimes just let them go at it as long as no one's getting hurt. They have to learn to work things out for themselves, and sometimes they are able to move on and play nicely again. Still, exhausting. But while they played and turned the family room into a disaster, I was able to clean out a cupboard area for Celia's art supplies. We have a kitchen cart that holds them all, but it turns into a mess and gets crammed with stuff. I want to just get rid of it and keep a couple small bins with art supplies in a cupboard. The less "stuff" we have, the less stuff I have to deal with. I'm getting better and better at paring down and getting rid of things. The only problem is that my husband and daughter never want to get rid of anything. It's a challenge sometimes.

Mid-morning, the kids were not getting along well and I needed a few things from the store so we went for a ride. They did well pushing their little cart and helping me.

They were seriously adorable pushing that cart together. Every little old lady in the store stopped to talk to them. I just wish they were always so cute and well-behaved. At least they're good when we're in public.

After that we went home and had lunch. Celia wouldn't eat and said she was tired, so I offered to let her upstairs to rest and she actually went. She played in her room for a while, which was nice because I got a break from the kids' bickering. I want to start having Celia play in her room more often, so she and Henry get a break from each other and she can play with her dollhouse.

Henry wanted to play upstairs with Celia, so we went up and I put laundry away while they played. They were playing really well together, bringing blankets from room to room and pretending to go to bed. I decided to go vacuum the front hall since they were doing well, and they just kept playing together for a while. I ended up doing more vacuuming and picked up downstairs. I may gate them upstairs together more often!

I feel the need to document having picked-up rooms in the middle of the day.

I had an empty bin in Celia's room, from getting ready to put summer clothes away. They were filling it with stuffed animals and taking them out again. Celia said she was "getting things organized".

She does the cutest little things when she plays. She tied two of her animals up in her ballet slippers and said the slippers were their carseats. Isn't that such a good idea?

Henry has been giving me a hard time with naps lately. If Chris is home, he wants Chris to put him down for his naps. If I try to put him down, he stands in the crib crying and calling for me. Today I went in twice and picked him up, and he started falling asleep but would cry again when I put him back in the crib. Finally he lay down and went to sleep. What a relief. Celia and I are having some quiet time now and she's watching a couple shows. Nap time is always a good "reset" time on these tough days. Time to go start dinner so I can play with the kids after nap and hopefully we'll have an easier afternoon!