Holiday Harp

"Happiness is the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want know for what we want eventually."

I've always really liked this quote. I don't consider it a "personal motto", but it summarizes a belief that's important to me.

These days over at Busy-Dad-E, we have many exciting upcoming changes, for which we are very thankful and blessed. Bab-E Brother is coming soon, we just got a minivan, we're building a new house (and hopefully selling our house), and I'm starting a new job in a few months.

(Can you tell we're like Sam's Club over here, and just like to package big life changes in bulk?)

However, all of this comes with a "price tag" associated with being extra bus-E.
The days she's not working outside the home, Mom-E spends her time going to all kinds of appointments related to the new house and errands, in between taking Big Brother to-and-from school. She feels like Little Brother is pretty much constantly kept "in-tow" in the van.

When I'm not at work these days, I'm "in-tow" with Mom-E and the boys to these appointments as well. Additionally, I'm picking up some extra work hours 3 times a month, in order to help with the (upcoming) down payment on the house.

This fits into the "Happiness..." quote at the top. While I'm trying to instill in my children the importance of work ethic, that message is just hard in the instant gratification world of an (almost) 5 year-old, and a 2 year-old who just clings to Dad-E when he's home.

I mean, when he's hungry, Big Brother has trouble waiting 10 minutes without pitching a fit, so it follows that the concept of--"Dad-E's working extra so that our family can have a house with more space, and your own room (he'll be bunking with Little Brother when Bab-E Brother arrives), and a bigger yard to play in--is infinitely harder to grasp, even though he's been at the construction site for the house, including standing in his new room.

The other price tag is that I'm definitely more irritable than I'd like to be.

Frustrations get under my skin easier when "there's always one more thing to do": the house needs cleaned, the light fixture needs fixed, the paint needs touched up, the meeting needs scheduled etc., etc. etc.

(These days I feel like I have to schedule my trips to the bathroom.)

And I tend to harp at the boys. In fact I feel like these days a big chunk of my interaction with them is harping (that's an exaggeration). Still, it definitely tells me I'm frustrated.

Granted, it's not cool when they run out of our sight in a store, or come within inches of toppling over a display, but I definitely could be cooler in how I handle it.

"Come over here. Don't touch that. Get your finger out of there. Don't stomp the Cheeze-its into the carpet with your feet. Pull up your pants when you're not in the bathroom. Stop swinging by a rope from the ceiling fan." (Okay I made up the last one, but all of the others are genuine.)

While I don't think anyone has been permanently "damaged", we all definitely need to shoot each other once with my to-be-invented VALIUM DART GUN, to just chillax a bit. Or at least I should just "smile and have a Coke." (Thank you Richard Pryor.)

Boys, when you read this down the road, just know that all of the "sacrifices" Mom-E and I are making are because we love you and want the best for you.

And right now, all I'd really like to do is sit on the floor and play trains and cars and Legos and Play Doh and puzzles with you...

...but if I don't make this scheduled trip to the bathroom right now, I'm going to be really uncomfortable all week.

Have a stress-free week,
Busy-Dad-E