The new Sunday morning

Sunday morning, 6:00 a.m. I am on the couch after having been banished there at 2:13 a.m. My shoulder is so stiff that I can barely move. I haven’t slept save 45 minutes. I thought that after the divorce, my days of banishment from my bed were behind me. Oh, how wrong I was!


Let’s start at the beginning. I am trying a new tactic. New parenting style. I realized that my stress over all of this change was making me a bit edgy. Last week, I decided that I am going to stop being reactionary. No more boiling over and expecting immediate results. Now it is simple. I say something once and that is all. (And I have been practicing saying it nicer and listening more.) Listen or don’t listen. Good consequences or bad. No yelling. No arguing. The change has been terrific. Set an expectation and children will rise (or fall) to it.

The result is that we are all calmer and talk nicer to each other…which results in my lower stress…which results in their lower stress. So, last night we decided to move family movie night to my bed. We all curled up in the dark. Before I knew it, I had two heavy breathers (and small child that shouldn’t eat so much fiber before bed…) Before I knew it, I was banished to a small corner of my queen sized. So, in the middle of the night, I crept to the couch with my pillow and throw blanket and curled up trying to stay warm…knowing that in a few hours, I would be in the kitchen making eggs and biscuits. I love Sunday mornings.