You know things aren't going well when...

To just put it out there, Saturday was definitely not one of my better parenting days! Mike was working an extra shift and I was home with the kids, all of them, all day, by myself. Things seemed to be going well when I let them play in their new sandbox all morning. Yes, I had to break up the occasional fight, someone got put in time out for throwing sand, and of course there was some tattling involved, but we got through it. I was even trying to be nice and told them that instead of naps after lunch they could have quiet time while the babies napped - read a book, play quietly, color - whatever, just do it quietly. Well, the babies were having a hard time going down, so they were crying on and off. The kids were playing well with the Lincoln Logs until someone bugged someone else, or took someones block, or something else drastic occurred that required the all dreaded, "I'm telling!" By this point I was pretty tired of it all, tired of the fighting, the tattling, the whining, you name it, and once I heard Kaden come to me and say "Mom..." that was just about it. I told him to stop right there. If he was going to tattle that would be it and everyone would be in their rooms. Well, he decided to tattle anyway, so he and Sam, the two major culprits, got sent to their rooms. (Gav was being pretty good and keeping to himself so I let him keep playing.) Of course this was followed by the stomping, the huge stink eye looks, the hunched shoulders, and the infamous "You're mean!" For some reason, I've been hearing that a lot lately. Well, I went up to talk to them for a bit, and after I finished with Kaden, I walked over to Sam's room, and found this on the floor in front of her closed door:In case you can't decrypt her writing, it says:

Do Not Enter
even parents, including Mom and Dad.
For Real.
Because if you do you will be sent out.
Enter if you dare, because I won't come out for the rest of my life!

Just in case you were wondering, no the babies never did end up taking a nap, the kids never did play quietly, and Sam did eventually come out of her room. I guess the rest of her life was a bit too long to be cooped up in her room. Sad thing is, I'm pretty sure I was this dramatic when I was little.
Later, while I was talking to the kids about why they were in trouble and how they needed to help mommy out by listening and doing what they are asked to do, Sam of course pipes in and says, "Well, you are too hard on us!" Which the boys both chime in and immediately nod in agreement. Then later she tells me, "I wish I was Jordan." (her cousin) I asked her, "Why?" and jokingly said, "So Kari (my sister) could be your mom? To which she replied, "Yes." Well, thanks, thanks a lot kid! Of course she said that wasn't really the reason, and she was just kidding, but she never could give me another reason, so I'm just going to have to go with that one.

So, in short, you know things aren't going too well when your kids think you are mean, think you are too hard on them, and they want their aunt to be their mom instead of you! Like I said, not one of my best days.