My Mate

Her side:

My afternoon yesterday went downhill pretty fast. Most of the day had been great even though I faced such extreme exhaustion I could barely keep my eyes open. But we pushed through and had fun. We are in the process of potty training Peter. This little boy HAS to be trained by the time his baby brother appears in July. We've done 3 in diapers at one time during 2 different times. This time we'd like to be down to one who obviously will need them. Peter is smart. He knows but he absolutely refuses. He can go most of the day in underwear and not have any accidents but once that first accident happens he just can't stop.

He had wet himself and after getting his wet clothes off himself I left him naked because he had no more clean underwear in his drawer and I really just didn't feel like fishing some out of the clean clothes piled up downstairs. He tooted and I asked him if he needed to go sit on the toilet. He said no so I let him go on his way. This has been a huge road block for us. He refuses to sit on the toilet and try to go poop. I should have forced him to go but that was a fight I just didn't feel up to having with him. Shortly after I asked Peter if he needed to go, Gordie comes running to me saying Peter pooped in their room and Petey had poop on his leg. Sure enough, there was evidence going down Peter's leg. I send him off to the bathroom, clean him off and discipline him. I then had to quickly meet the girls outside as they got off the bus.

I go to air out the boy's room and search for the surprise Petey left for me. I couldn't find it right away and told Peter to come show me where he did his deed. He showed where he hid behind his bed and then tried to cover it up. He must have learned that from our cat. I open his window (thank goodness for the temporary warm weather we had) and take to my baby wipes to clean up the mess. This puts me in a grumpy mood only elevated by my exhaustion. And if this wasn't enough to send any one over the top my oldest decides to mouth off to me and be disrespectful.

Apparently it was my fault she couldn't find a certain homemade book from one of her cousins because I had put it away but it wasn't in the spot I thought it was. So I got a mouth full of, "You're always wrong" and "Its all your fault" from her. This brings me to tears almost and only makes my mood worse. I get harsh with her when trying to explain I put it away so it wouldn't get lost or ruined by her brothers and I was only trying to help. I tell her to go look somewhere else and she finds it but I get no apology even after I tell her how rude and disrespectful she was and how her words and accusations really hurt my feelings. And all this happens while I'm trying to finish cleaning up Peter's nasty display of bodily discharge. I take the baby wipes outside to the dumpster and just stand there trying to control my attitude, thoughts, and words.

I text Andy telling him what is happening and what has happened. I couldn't take much more after all this. When he gets home he takes full control of both situations. Peter is still in time out and I'm sitting down with Penelope helping her with her reading. Andy takes care of the situation with Amie, making her clean her room by herself and do dishes after dinner as her discipline. (The dishes idea was all her's after Andy explained everything I do for them with no help and very little grumbling from me.)

He takes care of Peter for me and sends him back to time out. The result of Peter is that he has gone potty on his own ever since then with very little reminders from me. (You guys, that poop was HUGE. And smelly. And GROSS)

My mate is my life saver. My mate is someone I know I can count on to take control when I feel I've lost it. My mate is someone who knows me well enough that I get very over emotional when my anxiety goes through the roof and knows the signs when I'm about to over flow from all the stress. And the result of the discipline he gave our oldest was me being able to relax and watch TV...by myself! She did the dishes with no complaints and little to no help from me (I obviously helped her when she really needed it and taught her where she struggled) and Petey left me alone and did his own thing.

I cannot imagine what my life would be like without Andy in it or with anyone else because they way he understands me and reads me is truly a gift from God and proof all the more that we are meant to be together.

Ephesians 5:28
"In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."