Plus, God blessed me with some little pieces of joy.
The morning got off to a rough start. I was awakened to the sound of some obnoxious beeping, which I soon discovered was Scott's alarm on his iTouch. (I just so hate... no... passionately dislike beeping alarms.) I forgot he was meeting up with his buddies for coffee at 5:30. I laid there for a little while but considering it was so close to my alarm going off, I just decided to get up.
At 4:45.
I woke Jeffrey up at 5:50... knowing that this would likely be a challenge considering he finally whimpered himself to sleep around 9:45. And if you know anything about toddlers, you'd know that 8 hours is not enough sleep. They need closer to 12. Just sayin'. So... yeah... You can see where this is leading already.
Immediately the whining began. There are few things that grate my nerves the way that whining does.
I had to literally hold him down to brush his teeth. That was fun. He cried (really loudly) all the way to our car, which pretty much echoed in the courtyard... which I'm sure our neighbors really enjoyed before sunrise.
He whined all the way to school.
He refused to get out of the car. I pulled the baby out and started walking toward the door. Jeffrey jumped out of the car, screaming thinking I was leaving him behind. He cried all the way into school. Then, like magic, he perked up and all evidence of the little terror-toddler was gone.
Unfortunately, by this time, I was at my breaking point. Jeffrey's regular teacher was in the baby's classroom, so I used it as an opportunity to ask a few questions. She assured me that he has never had a tantrum at school and was pretty much shocked to hear that he was acting out in this way. (Lovely to hear, really... I'm SO relieved that he's so happy and compliant while in her care. However....)
We started walking towards Jeffrey's class. The center director stopped us to say hi to Jeffrey. She asked me how I was.
Now... ladies, you know how this goes. When you're sleep deprived, stressed out, emotionally drained, and sad, what happens when someone asks you how you are?
So not cool.
But she felt my pain. So much so that she started tearing up. Through my tears, I explained to her what we've been dealing with these last few weeks and how it has just completely broken my heart. I can't stand seeing my babies this way. Never mind the disobedience and tantrums. It's just a symptom of a deeper problem - most likely due to the fact that I have, at best, two hours a day with him before it's bedtime. And, worse, those two hours are not really quality hours. As soon as I get home, my attention is on the baby. Jeffrey no longer has his own space and stuff. He can't tackle the baby (I protect her). He has to share with the baby. Everything is about the baby. He's kind of left on his own. It's no wonder he's acting out. Any attention is better than no attention. He's three. He doesn't have the words to express how he feels. He just knows that he needs mommy and he never has mommy's undivided attention.
And then God blessed me. Jeffrey, in his typical tender fashion, looked into my eyes and asked, "Mommy, why are you crying?" All I could muster to say was, "Honey, I'll explain it to you someday."
She was incredibly gracious and sweet. She told me how she's been there, and how it was that much worse considering her profession. She encouraged me that this will, indeed, be a passing phase, and offered to find some resources for me about raising such a willful, stubborn boy.
Eyes now red and puffy, I thanked her for her time.
And then God blessed me again. On our way into Jeffrey's classroom, he came running up behind me, his arms around my waist, following my footsteps like a little train. Once in the classroom, he wouldn't let me go. He hugged and kissed me repeatedly, until I finally said, "K... Meet me at the window!"
This is the highlight of my weekday mornings. He runs to the window and waits for me to go outside and kiss him through the glass. He smiled his big toothy smile, kissed me through the glass, and waved excitedly. Oh, how I love this kid!
I got into my car... and cried for the next 10 miles.
And then God blessed me again. The sun was just coming up, casting a beautiful purplish glow over the entire Rocky Mountain range. Oh, my goodness.... What a sight to behold! I never get tired of that view driving into work. I just longed to be closer to them... To touch them... To experience them... To listen to them... 
Once at work, I fired up Pandora and found my mellow.
My coworker SHREEE! and I worked out together late morning. I had a good, healing sweat. (Oh, how I have missed taking out my frustrations in the gym!)
Rather than eat lunch, I ran to DSW and scored these little beauties:
New shoes have a healing quality about them, don't you think? And, bonus, they are closed toe and totally no open-toe shoe policy appropriate. Hell to the yeah.
Dear Fire Chief: Never mind about the no open toe shoe portion of the dress code. I'm cool with it. Cuz, seriously, look at these shoes! I mean... they don't compare to my fabulous red suede pumps with peek-a-boo toes, but... these are pretty great.
At quittin' time (aka 5 o'clock pm, mountain standard time), SHREEE! and I agreed to meet for a drink. All well and good, only I was wearing the fire department polo. (Kinda not an ok thing to be wearing a fire department patch in a bar... It's an image thing.) So, oh darn, I guess I had to go buy a new shirt really quick. Which I did. And it's cute. And SHREEE! loved it... and my new shoes.... So, yeah... I strutted some new stuff.
And I had myself a Stella, y'all!
On my 40 minute commute home, I enjoyed some great tunes and watched the sun set over the Rockies. I just wish I had been in the middle of them, rather than admiring them from afar.
I arrived to an empty house. Another score. I did a quick clean up in the bedrooms, living room and kitchen. (I hate clutter and mess! So, yeah, just another opportunity for my anal retentive fix.)
The family arrived shortly after. Gotta hand it to the spousal unit. He took one for the team. He had the kids out running around for an hour and a half. Eden was completely worn out. A big ol' bottle, some rocking and a few butt-pats and she was out.
The focus was now on Jeffrey. I have to admit, I was nervous. I just really didn't have it in me tonight to deal with another 2 hour tantrum.
He had our full, undivided attention.Wouldn't ya know it, he ate dinner without a fuss. He brushed his teeth without a fuss. He peed on the potty (like a big boy!) without a fuss. (Ok... we bribed him with gummy vitamins.) It still took until 9:30 for him to finally fall asleep, but there wasn't a fit to speak of.
It's Friday. So... what else did we do? We enjoyed a Chicago pie and some suds... as we do every Friday night. It's a tradition that just simply cannot be broken.
And my spousal unit just handed me a Long Island Iced Tea. He loves me. He really loves me. (Actually, what he said was, "If you finish this, you'll feel like a new person." He's right. And I'm not even a third through it. I love these things.)
Today didn't start well, but it ended pretty well. I'm enjoying my cocktail next to an open window with my mellow tunes rockin' on Pandora, Bose style, in the dark with only the light of a few candles and my computer screen. The spousal unit is... over there. And I am over here.
I think I'll go over there.
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