A rough start, some friends stop by and The Mentalist whilst knitting.

Today Jack gave me fits! First thing.... ok... I should rephrase that.... rather early in the....ok... about 9ish this morning he decided to just be a royal pain in the ass and start beating on his sister for no good reason that I could see. I suppose there shouldn't EVER be a good reason to beat on your sister, but in small children sometimes the lines are a bit more blurry...!! Anyhoo... he was a pill and I handled it.. poorly. Yes yes... I did not do my best, I did not stop and think, I did not pull out any tools, recite any rhymes, use a sing song voice, distract, placate... nothing. I yelled. And when that didn't work I threatened and when THAT didn't work I smacked his butt. *** hangs head for shame and sighs *** This is where I have come, folks. The one parenting "tool" I abhor. The one thing I swore I wouldn't do to my children.... and what does it take? I could try and explain myself, come up with a dozen reasons why I was at my wits end and I'd tried everything else... but excuses excuses... I still did it. Ugh. I will say I didn't lay into him, I didn't whack him ... but still. I went upstairs with him, talked to him, got him dressed and explained that he should stay and play in his room until he felt ready to be a nicer boy and until he was ready to apologise and make friends with Jessie. He did come down after about 15 minutes and was in a much friendlier mood, even going so far as to offer Jessie his new "swissyfying glass" "to look closer at things...." !!! For the rest of the day he was his normal nice kid self. I don't know what demon had possessed him this morning, I really don't. Anyway. Let's draw a line under THAT mess and move on. Please.
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Thanks!

So, the rest of the day improved rapidly when our friends Mary, Charlotte and Will came over to play! I wasn't sure whether they would be coming today as the weather was set to turn foul and I couldn't get to my computer since Jack was on it so missed their message letting me know they were on their way. So, naturally, not knowing for sure if anyone was coming over I did the sensible thing.... nothing at all. I did NOT clean my kitchen, tidy the table, vacuum the floors or run the laundry.... uh huh.. "just in case" is clearly not the way I am programmed!!! Happily Mary pretended she didn't notice the mess and we sat drinking tea, knitting and watching the feather sized snow flakes tumble from the sky. Jessie was thrilled that the kids came to play and her overall demeanor changed noticeably. She needs to see more of them, they are good for her soul! ;D

Rex ran something of a rescue mission after work, helping out a friend who had got himself ( and his 3 year old daughter ) stuck in a ditch thanks to the treacherous roads. They came to our house until his gorgeous wife could come and pick them up. Once they had set off back home we had a quick dinner, got the kiddoes into bed and hubster and I sat and watched The Mentalist. I really enjoy that show! I'm working on my second dishcloth which is coming along nicely and is going to be pretty fancy I think... provided the instructions don't send me cross eyed before I'm finished!! I'll post pictures when I'm done, but hey, don't hold your breath.....!! "}

Night all! ; D