and then there are bad days.

Any chance I had for "Mom of the year" was stripped from my clutches yesterday. It was definitely one of those "bad" days. (Yes we have them here too.) I'm not sure where things went wrong. The day started nice enough. John was off work, and snuck out early to surprise us with donuts. (a real treat for sure!) We then had a lazy morning getting ready for a picnic lunch in the park. All good so far. We walked along the lake, fed the ducks, even skipped stones. When we got home the kids helped me shuck about 7 dozen ears of corn to get ready for freezing. Still good. But somewhere after nap time, things seemed to take a nose dive. John had to leave for a school bus recertification course/banquet, so we were on our own for supper. (clean out the fridge night...a little bit of everyone's favorites). I knew things were sour when I found myself screaming (and no that's not an exageration) for everyone to "just be quiet!" at the supper table. They were out of control, each one trying to talk louder than the next. I finally began just sending them away from the table one at a time, hoping for a little peace in the kitchen. Unfortunately, sending them out early, meant all their dishes were left behind as well. (They usually clear their own place.) Arrggg. More insanity. Four neighbor kids joined us for the evening which meant a little more chaos than usual...and more toys to put away later. Listening, playing nice, and cleaning up were nowhere in the kids vocabulary tonight. Which of course made me scream louder...I hate that about myself. I've learned over time to quit praying for peace in our home, rather peace within me, that I might be able to channel peace through our home. I'm very aware that without inner peace, we can't expect things to be peaceful around us. Anyhow, we managed to get 9 baths done (Lucy had hers earlier in the day) and toys cleaned up before John got home around 9. And somehow, a little cake and ice cream brought us all back together. Prayers and kisses to bed, and all is right with the world again. Thank God today is another day!