This past week was a little bit stressful. I thought I had been getting the hang of working at home with two kids but this week was crazy! Ty hasn't been napping very well which means that most days he is begging for my attention and I keep telling him to go play with the toys and he keeps asking for suckers  and  I keep telling him no because I'm pretty sure giving a 2 year old 10 suckers a day isn't the smartest thing to do. He gets angry and then I get angry back and it has become a vicious cycle.
       I am so grateful that I can work from home and be with my kids. I love doing hair and I love all my clients. I love that it has become something I can do and still be a mom and I felt like I was doing okay and that things were going great but this past week my patience with Ty was very low! He is getting his very last tooth and it's one of his canines so it is cutting through extra sharp and I'm sure it's really painful. Because of that, he was really angry and naughty all week and I reacted badly ALL week! By Friday we were both frustrated and I felt like the worst mom in the world.
      Before I had Stevie I was afraid that when he was born I wouldn't be able to give Ty enough time and attention and we wouldn't be best buds anymore. I realized that that was exactly what was happening but only because of my bad attitude! I wanted to cry. I felt so sad that I had been  acting worse than  my almost two year old especially when what he needed more than anything was for me to just love him. I felt like there was no way that I could work and love my two kids enough and be a good wife and clean the house and cook all the meals and do everything else! After having a little meltdown on Friday I felt much better and on Saturday I decided  that what Ty needed was more one on one time with me. I also decided that I was going to parent with love and patience instead of snapping back at him.
       Today at church the whole relief society lesson was on families  and our children. She told a story of a woman in my exact situation who even though she worked from home felt that her children weren't getting enough attention from her and in turn they were acting out and she decided to spend 20 minutes of quality time with each of them daily. She said 20 minutes didn't seem like much but when you're working full time and doing everything else you need to do, 20 minutes was at least doable and it made such a big difference. One day it was very late and the kids were already asleep, but she needed to spend her 20 minutes with them so she woke them up! She figured they'd be up all night but after they had their time together, which was amazing, they went right back to bed!  It was interesting because I knew this whole lesson was just for me! I had already decided to spend more time with each of them daily but I have now decided that for this week especially I am going to do 20 minutes of uninterrupted quality time. No phone or distractions on my end. I can tell Ty needs this and I know he is going to love it! That is my goal this week and to also be more optimistic and happy. I will follow up next Sunday to see if it made any difference.

(I just have to say, incase anyone reads this, that I really do love doing hair and I'm grateful to all my clients who still come even though it's usually a mad house! I'm also super grateful for everyone who is always helping me. We are so happy and I love Ty! We just  had a crazy week and I'm hoping this week will be better!)