A Do-Over

I recently started a gratitude journal where I try to keep track of good things that happen throughout the day. It's also where I write funny things the kids say so I can remember them in the years to come. Tonight I feel like sharing what I wrote this evening:

• Today Maddie said to me at the beginning of quiet time, "Could you leave some water in the room for me to drink for when I start achooing?" I think "achooing" is a much better word than coughing/sneezing.
•  I am thankful that today is OVER. One of my hardest days as a mother EVER. I wish I would have handled things differently. The low point was losing my temper with Maddie over a HOT DOG. I told Ryan after the kids went to bed (with tears streaming down my face) that I wanted a do-over. "That's the great thing about being a parent to young children, honey, you get a do-over everyday because they won't remember this stuff in the morning." His words made me feel much better (even though Maddie probably will remember this stuff in the morning--just ask her what happened to her Dora's Pirate Adventure dvd).
• I am thankful for this episode I found about Motherhood on mormonchannel.org
• Today in the midst of my horrible day, I prayed that Ryan would call me. He did. He is somehow able to see me at my best even when I am acting my worst. I am thankful that I have the kind of husband that I hope calls me because I know he'll always cheer me on and give me just the pep talk I need. He even brought me home ice cream because he knows that Blizzards make any bad day better. 
• Family Home Evening was comical. I planned a lesson entitled "Using Kind Words" (because I myself needed it, thank you very much). We had not even finished the opening song, "Love is Spoken Here," when the D-Man marched unprovoked up to Isaac and yanked on his hair as hard as he could, which caused Ike to holler in pain, and both Ryan and I (and probably Maddie as well) to reprimand Davis, who then burst into tears. I felt a little hypocritical finishing the song, "...and the things they teach are crystal clear for love is spoken here..." after that incident. It only went downhill from there.
• At one point before bed, both Ryan and I were scolding Maddie pretty harshly for trying to KICK Davis down the stairs. "Do you know what happened to Isaac on the stairs?!?" said Ryan, "He broke his arm!!!" "Do you want Davis to fall and break his head?!?" I snapped.  "Actually," chimed Isaac, clearly oblivious to the tension in the room, "My arm didn't break, just the bones inside it." Not now, buddy, Not.Now. 
• Good thing tomorrow I get a do-over.

Luckily this sweaty boy was too exhausted to put up much of a fight at bedtime. A dirty look was his only retaliation.